Watching You
by Paige Terner
Summary: Kate Beckett's life changed drastically when she was kicked off the NYPD, causing her to choose a different career path. Now living a life void of purpose and passion, she stumbles into the path of Richard Castle, a one-hit-wonder in the publishing world. Forced together by fate, they must unravel a tangled mess of a murder that falls into their laps. AU. Co-authored by kate-hi.
1. Prologue

The copper tang washes over his tongue again, so Castle spits, propelling more of his blood into the ever growing puddle of it by his feet. His head throbs achingly with every beat of his heart, which speeds up with each punch, only to slow down again while awaiting the next one. He can only see out of his right eye, as the left is swollen completely shut. He isn't certain, but he is fairly sure one of his teeth has been knocked loose. Blood trickles from his left ear, trailing down to meet with the stream that's draining slowly from his nose, then continues down to his chin where it drips off to mix with his expectorated blood below. A powerfully painful cough is now becoming almost constant, thanks to the harsh blows that keep landing in his gut and chest.

Suddenly a fist meets his chin once more, slinging his head sideways with an intense amount of force. He doesn't think he can take much more without passing out – for the second time. They'd roused him with smelling salts before, and he feels certain they'll do so again if he slips into unconsciousness. He groans, the almost instinctive complaint escaping his lips of its own accord, then turns his head back to face forward. He has to try and stay alert, has to try not to give in to his desire to let go. He can't appear any weaker than he already has. If his attacker knows he's starting to really get to Castle, he might intensify his efforts in an attempt to break him. That's the last thing Castle needs.

Castle's mind feels as if it's in overdrive. Even with the rather efficient distraction of being a human punching bag, he can't stop thinking about everything that had led him to this moment. The case had gone so wrong. No. It wasn't the case. It was him. He had been so wrong. Kate had tried to tell him. But he hadn't listened. Now he's here, trapped only with his thoughts and a beast of a man that could probably give Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali a run for their money – at the same time. Another punch brings his thoughts back to the here and now. He needs to stop letting his increasingly fuzzy mind wander and focus on figuring out the best way to get out of here. Now.

He looks around as best he can. Being tied up and beaten makes it hard to pay attention to his surroundings, but luckily he's good at noticing things. Problem is, there's not much to notice. The door he'd been dragged through is the only way out of the little room. And it's not like the brute before him is just going to let him walk out. The man standing before him is no stranger to violence, of that Castle is certain. No one could be this at ease with reducing another human being to a bruised, bloody pulp without having been through some major violence in their time. The crooked nose from a poorly healed break combined with the rash of scars that intertwine with several thousand dollars worth of intricate tattoos running up and down his arms helps support that theory. Just then, the man seems to catch on to the fact that Castle is staring at him, and he smashes his knuckles into Castle's face yet again. As hard as he tries, Castle just can't help but drop his chin until it's resting against his chest as he loses all ability to hold his own head up.

"Mr. Castle, are you ready to talk?" the man bellows out in a gruff voice, one tainted by at least a pack of cigarettes a day.

Castle swallows, unable to stop the pained grimace that flashes across his face as he does so, and takes in a few breaths. They are shallow and barely feel like enough to even halfway fill his lungs, but it gives him enough oxygen to feel like he can move, though it's ever so slight. He slowly picks his head up and studies the man again. His coal black hair is cut in a military style crew cut, buzzed so short the color is hard to ascertain at first. His irises are the color of wet asphalt, and they seem to bore right through Castle as he stares down at him.

"I would," Castle replies, the words rasping out over his dry, cracked lips, "but my mother taught me not to talk to strangers."

His captor turns his head from side to side, popping the vertebrae in his neck loudly. Castle has a bad feeling that he really isn't going to like what comes next.


	2. Chapter 1

"I want to be certain that you understand the terms of the agreement, Miss Beckett. Discretion is of the utmost importance."

Kate Beckett half-smiles at the man before her. He's dressed in a crisp business suit, and she notices a twitch in his eyebrow. Perhaps it's a nervous tick.

"I can assure you Mr. Taverner," Kate begins with a deep, annoyed breath, "I've conducted countless cases exactly like this one before."

The skeptical Mr. Taverner peers over his square-rimmed glasses to gaze at her. She knows she wasn't exactly what the man had been expecting. She could tell by the way his eyes had nearly bugged out of his skull when she'd walked through the door of his office just an hour before. It was a reaction she was beginning to expect. Kate sighs deeply and shifts in her chair to restrain herself from rolling her eyes at the man.

"I understand the terms, sir. If I'm anything, I'm discreet."

The middle-aged man leans back in his office chair, allowing the deep creases in his forehead to begin smoothing themselves out. He flashes a forced grin her way before standing up and offering his hand.

"Thank you Miss Beckett. I'll anxiously await your call."

_Sure he will_. Kate stands up and brushes the wrinkles out of her vanilla colored trench-coat, grabbing the brown folder Mr. Taverner offers her in his outstretched hand. She tucks it under her arm, and shakes his hand, wondering if his handshake is always as limp, or if it is something he reserves just for women he doesn't trust. A shrill ring interrupts her thoughts, and he turns to grab the phone on his desk. Kate takes this God-given opportunity to escape the confines of his office.

She opens the folder as soon as she gets back to her car. Sitting in the driver's seat and thumbing through the various pieces of paperwork, her eyes dance up and down the pages at a rapid pace. _Ah. An address. Regina Taverner, Attorney at Law._ Kate enters the address into her GPS, and throws her hair back into a tight bun while she waits for the route to show up on the display. The building isn't as far as she had expected it to be. If she leaves now, she might be able to gather some initial surveillance. If she were the optimistic type, she might even wager that she could have this job wrapped up before dinner. Here's hoping.

* * *

Kate chooses to hang around in the lavish lobby of Regina Taverner's building. _Wait her out_. The private investigator has enough experience to know not to attempt a trip up to Regina's 14th floor law firm – always a recipe for disaster. The lobby is bustling with activity, and she disappears into the crowd effortlessly, positioning herself within a few feet of the main elevators with a book open, for cover.

After several minutes of observation, Kate keeps a wary eye trained on the elevator platform, and flips through her favorite book again. The pages feel soft and pliable between her fingers, and she turns each page with extra care. If anyone ever asked her why she liked _A Rose For Everafter_ so much, she would probably brush it off, saying that it was the cast of goofy characters and the ridiculous mystery. But, the real reason that the spine was tattered and the pages were worn from overuse would never cross her lips. She sighs, remembering her first time reading the story, what the words had meant to her, and what they would always mean to her, every time she cracks the cover.

* * *

Kate curses inwardly an hour later – she was _just_ getting to the best part – when Regina Taverner makes her appearance. The well-dressed lawyer steps off the platform and into the open lobby. Tall, thin, and blonde, her power-heels have her standing at least an inch taller than the other occupants of the lobby. Her pencil skirt is excessively tight. A man is following close behind her, dressed in a designer suit, and he peers right at Kate through coke-bottle glasses as he shuffles by in a hurry to keep up with the blonde bombshell.

"Don't tell me there was nothing you could do to prevent this Isaac, there's not a thing –"

"Now don't be unfair!" the man interrupts, "You know you would've done the same in my position, Regina. Consider the alternatives."

The two are engaging in a harsh whispered argument and Beckett stands up to follow behind them as they step outside onto the sidewalk. She follows them down the next two blocks, but much to her frustration, she can't get close enough to hear any more of their tense conversation. Their gestures are animated, and both parties appear frustrated when they finally part and the man gets into a cab. Kate's interest piques, she makes a note to herself to find out who that man was as soon as possible, and she follows Regina around a corner.

Kate finds herself thanking the heavens above for her police academy training as she struggles to keep up with Regina, who is nearly jogging down the sidewalk with her gazelle-like legs. Kate pushes at the sea of people who have appeared on the busier street, and follows Regina another block until finally, she seems to have reached her destination. She stops in the street and pulls out her phone, thumbing over the surface of the device before shoving it into her pocket harshly. Kate watches her walk into a building. A bar. _Of course_. Kate sighs and glares at the harshly lit letters on the sign before pulling on her bun, letting her hair loose to tumble over her shoulders. She pops a few buttons on her blouse, barely exposing the laced edge of her black bra, and steps inside.

* * *

Positioned down the bar from Regina, Kate keeps her head down and sips on her drink slowly, taking her sweet time in finishing up her Old Fashioned cocktail to ensure that her reflexes stay sharp. She's technically on the job, after all. It's been an hour since Regina entered the bar, and all that time she's been drinking alone. Kate is beginning to think that she isn't planning to meet up with her extra-marital suitor here after all. Suddenly Kate's view is obstructed by a broad-chested man wearing a smirk, a flannel shirt, and a huge belt buckle. She can't help but stifle a groan, as she wonders if the belt buckle is supposed to be compensating for something. _Oh_. The smirk is being directed at her.

"What're ya drinking, ma'am?"

Well. Right to the point. Though she can't deny that he's gorgeous. Firm and muscular. Mmm. But Kate can see through his charming-southern-boy façade in a split second. He sits on the stool next to her – too close. Entirely too close. He's so close she can smell the wafting edge of his strong cologne, and she nearly chokes.

"I'm just waiting for my boyfriend actually."

Yes, it's a lie, but not one that's too far from the truth. Kate's boyfriend is more of a "friend with benefits," than a partner in a romantic relationship however, and she hasn't heard from the handsome cardiac surgeon in a couple of weeks. Kate sells her white lie by glancing around the room, and then fixes her gaze on the door. The southern charmer's face visibly falls, and for a minute, Kate feels sorry for him. But, like a true southerner, he politely moves to another part of the bar, and her line of vision opens up again.

Kate's heart gallops in her chest. Regina's gone. The bar stool she had been occupying for the last hour is vacant. Kate reacts quickly, leaves some wadded money on the bar for her drink, and her eyes quickly scan over the crowd. She sees Regina coming out of the restroom area, and relief shoots through her system. She hasn't lost her. Regina's leaving now though, and Kate nonchalantly follows behind her, close enough to hear her get into a cab and spout off her home address to the driver.

That's it then. She's on her way home. Kate sighs. She hasn't an inkling as to the secrets the woman might be harboring, and still no idea as to the identity of the mystery man she is sleeping with on the side. But, tomorrow. Tomorrow's a new day, and she has a lot of work to do. Kate hails her own cab, and gives the driver an address.

"So late, ma'am?" The driver asks.

She nods her head, insisting, and a handful of minutes later he drops her off outside of her office building as requested. It's still bustling with activity despite the late hour, and she steps into an empty elevator, on it's way up, as everyone else makes their way down, undoubtedly on their way to their homes for the night. But for Kate Beckett, the lines separating home and work are muddied.

* * *

She flips the switch in her office, lets it bathe the room in light. Her eyes bounce off of the framed photographs on her desk. In one of the photos, a younger Kate stares back at her, her smile reaching up to her eyes. She can remember the way she felt back then – free, the future spread out before her, without the weights that she now drags with her every single day, like chains around her ankles. Her father had his arms wrapped around both her and her mother, and both her parents looked proud, happy. It was one of the last photos they'd taken together while on vacation in Argentina, before...before Kate's world had come crashing down around her.

Sitting on the windowsill is another picture of a younger Kate, this one from just a few years ago. She's dressed in her police uniform, hat atop her head, grinning, but without so much light in her eyes. Her boys stand behind her, Ryan and Esposito, loyal as puppies and the best partners a girl could ask for. They still call her often, claiming it's to tease her, but she knows better. She knows how much they still care about her, would always be there for her when she needs them, and she them. They're the brothers she never had.

Kate's stomach rumbles, alerting her to the fact that she hasn't eaten anything since lunch. She moves around her desk and starts rummaging through drawers full of junk and paperwork before pulling out a granola bar. _How long has this been in there?_ She's too hungry to care. She eats it in two quick bites, and opens her laptop to plan for her second day of investigation.

* * *

Several hours later, Kate lifts her head from her desk. The sunlight is pouring into the office from the large windows. She'd spent the night here again, in the middle of some intensive research. This was ridiculous. Her phone blinks 6:22, and she jerks herself up, stumbles, and catches herself with a hand on the side of her desk. Her car's still parked outside of Regina's building, and she needs to hurry. Brushing a hand through her hair, she glances at her reflection in the glass of the windowpane, grabs her coat, and rushes down to the street to catch a cab.

The night-guard is still on duty, and his look of surprise isn't lost on her. But when he starts to speak to her, – "You been up there all night, miss?" – she rushes past before she can register his voice and holds out her arm to hail a cab.

* * *

Kate's sitting in her car, across the street from the Taverner's apartment building. Thanks to her excellent foresight, she'd had a change of clothes in her car, and was able to clean herself up a little before making her way to the upper East side of the city. It's nearing 8:00 now, and she knows that Regina will be leaving for work at any moment. She'd already watched Scott Taverner leave, and she could've sworn he looked right at her as he made his way to the street corner, but she couldn't be sure. He must be a subway commuter.

Kate nearly leaps out of her car as she sees Regina leave the building and begin walking to the corner. She hustles to catch up to her without running, crossing four lanes of traffic and dodging frustrated pedestrians on their way to work, trying not to cause a scene. Her messenger bag hangs over her shoulder and bounces roughly against her thigh with every heavy step. A few impatient business men elbow her in the stomach, growling at her for standing in their way, but she continues on after Regina, determined.

Regina steps inside of a high-end coffee shop with Kate following close behind her. The stream-lined espresso bar is completely full, while attractive young men make drinks as fast as they can manage, shouting the customers' names in a cacophony of chaos. Regina searches the crowd for a moment, before noticing a man at a table in the corner, his back turned on them. Kate darts to grab an empty seat at the bar, a seat that places her in a near perfect position for spying on Regina and her coffee date. While ordering a skim latte with two pumps of sugar-free vanilla, she watches as Regina takes a seat across from the mysterious man, immediately laughing and reaching out to touch his hand. She can see more of the man now, he's average height, broad-chested and he has a sort of ruggedly handsome charm about him. _It's no wonder Regina's all over him._

Kate digs around in her bag for her phone, determined to snap some pictures of the two of them, even if she can't hear what they're saying. _Ugh_. She curses herself for not being better organized as she feels around. She finally peers down into her bag to move her book aside and – _wait_. Kate pulls the book out of her bag and flips it over in her hand. Her eyes snap back and forth between the image on the back cover and the man sitting across the room with Regina. _No way_. Right then, the man turns his gaze in her direction, spots her, stares at her for a moment before she can gather herself. His eyes are boring into hers, not blinking, not flinching – almost as if he _knows_ her, knows what she's doing there, knows what she's thinking. But that's impossible. She shoves the book back into her bag quickly, and catches her breath. _No way_.

The man, the one who is having an affair with Regina Taverner, is also the author of her favorite book.

Richard Castle.


	3. Chapter 2

Castle hears her coming before he sees her. The high heels have an unmistakable click-clack to them and a now familiar quick cadence, brought on by the fast paced steps that come with speed walking in a skirt that is practically painted on. He closes down his Angry Birds app and pockets his phone, then brings his gaze upwards, flashing a wide grin at Regina.

"Good morning."

"Good morning to you too, Rick," a laugh follows her response as she takes the seat across from him. She reaches out and lays her hand on top of his. "I'm so glad you called."

"Well," Castle begins, "I'm fairly certain you won't like what I have to say."

"I'm a big girl, Rick," Regina squints her eyes to emphasize her statement, "I can handle whatever you throw my way."

Castle smiles to hide his unease at her overly flirty tone and obvious double entendre. He should be used to it by now, but this woman is really turning out to be far more than he'd bargained for. He pulls his hand from under hers and reaches inside his jacket pocket, glad for the excuse to break contact. As he's fishing around in the pocket, he turns his head towards the front of the coffee shop, gazing aimlessly around in his habitual way.

Suddenly, his eyes pick her out of the crowd, a face among dozens, yet she is standing out as if she were the only other person in the room. Her face is not unknown to him, and he can't bring himself to look away. _What is she doing here?_ he wonders to himself. He stares at her, unblinking, mesmerized by her beauty just as he was when he had seen her for the first time. She is looking at something in her hand, a book of some sort, but she shoves it back in her bag and turns away to face the bar before Castle can tell for sure what it is.

"Rick?"

Regina's voice pulls him from his thoughts and he focuses his attention back on her. "Sorry," he offers, his lips turning upwards slightly, "for a moment there I thought I saw someone I knew."

"Why don't you tell me what you've found out," she glances at her watch, "because I do have to be getting to work soon."

Castle realizes his hand is still in his pocket, so he wraps his fingers around the small digital camera and pulls it out. "I saw a woman yesterday," he tells Regina as he waits for the screen to come to life, "I haven't seen her around before, but she definitely knows your husband."

"Exactly how well does she know him?" Regina lifts an eyebrow.

"I'm not certain yet." Castle scrolls through the pictures until he gets to the one he is searching for - the one that happens to be of the woman sitting across the room. He holds the camera up to Regina so she can see the screen. "Do you recognize her?"

Regina takes the camera from him and studies it, shakes her head, and gives it back. "Who is she?"

"I don't know," Castle turns off the camera and slips it back into his coat pocket, "but she went to his office yesterday afternoon and stayed for a little over an hour."

"An hour?" Regina laughs. "I didn't think Scott had that kind of stamina."

Castle swallows his discomfort and laughs along with her. Regina is breathtakingly beautiful, and Castle has never been shy about mixing business with pleasure. But he is not a cheater, nor will he allow himself to be the one allowing a woman to cheat. He has been the one cheated on before, and has no desire to do that to anyone else. He chooses to brush off the constant innuendoes that Regina throws out, but it doesn't seem to deter her from continuing to fire them off. Even so, he finds it odd that this woman is so suspicious of her husband, when she seems like the type that wouldn't hesitate to step out on her own. Regina clears her throat, which brings Castle's attention back to her.

"I need to get going," she tells him, "but please do keep in touch, Rick." She lays her hand on his again, leaning over just enough to give him a view down her low cut shirt.

He quickly lifts his chin so his eyes meet hers. "I certainly will," he points towards his coat with his free hand, "I'm going to do some searching and see what I can find out about the mystery woman. I'll let you know as soon as I find something out."

"I look forward to hearing from you again." Regina stands and starts to walk away, but stops after a few steps. She looks back at him over her shoulder and bats her eyelashes - actually bats them. "Maybe our next meeting could be over dinner. I know a great little place not far from here. They have delicious food and are good for privacy."

"Good to know." Castle nods, hoping simplicity in his reply is the best option.

With that, Regina heads for the exit. Castle watches her for a moment, but then looks back to the bar, where he hopes the brunette beauty is still sitting. His eyes widen happily when he sees that she is. Then he realizes that if Regina sees her, things could turn ugly. After all, he'd all but just told Regina that he thinks the woman is sleeping with her husband. He stands, trying to decide what to do. But before he can think of how to keep Regina from seeing her, the stranger meets his gaze. Something like recognition spreads across her face. They stare at each other for the briefest of moments, then Castle watches as she also stands. _Is she coming over here?_ He flashes his best grin at her, but it fades from his face when she starts after Regina follows her out the door. Castle trots over to the ceiling high window and he sees the woman getting into a cab directly behind the one Regina just slid into. The second car pulls away from the curb and drives off directly behind the first. Realizing the opportunity before him, he rushes out the door and hails a taxi of his own.

"Follow that cab," he instructs the driver as he points to the vehicle he is referring to, " I will pay you double what I owe if you just make sure you get me to wherever it is going."

The cabbie grunts a wordless acknowledgment in reply, shifts into drive, and merges into traffic with a well practiced ease.

* * *

Castle is bored out of his mind - utterly so. He has been sitting on this bench outside Regina's building for close to four hours now, and the woman he is tailing hasn't left the lobby. If only he knew her name he could go do some research to find out more about her and learn who she was. But alas, he doesn't know her name. All he has is her face and a slew of new questions. _Does this woman know that Regina knows that she is having an affair with her husband? What kind of mistress follows her lover's wife around? Was Regina lying when she said she didn't know her?_ He has no answers to these questions yet, but there is one thing Castle is sure of: this woman is a mystery he plans to solve.

He rises from the uncomfortable seat to stretch his legs and paces around in front of the bench for a few minutes, his eyes pinned to the woman inside. She is sitting in a chair with her back to him, her head slightly bowed. Castle assumes she is looking at a phone or magazine or book - whatever it is she is probably doing it to try to avoid eye contact with anyone. He's taken note that the lobby is a busy bustle of people coming and going, which is most likely why she has been able to sit in there for so long without anyone coming up to her. Every so often she glances upwards, usually looking towards the bank of elevators. _What is she waiting for? _he wonders. _If she is here to confront Regina, why doesn't she just go up to her office and confront her?_

He reaches the far end of his pacing path and turns to go back the other way. Immediately he notices a food vendor's cart about twenty feet past the bench in the opposite direction. It hadn't been there earlier, and he hadn't seen it roll up, but now that it's here, an idea is forming in his mind. With a grin he heads directly over to the cart, each step wide and purposeful.

"Good afternoon," Castle bellows out as he stops in front of the man running the well stocked stand.

"Hello to you." The pudgy man with a questionably stained apron replies. His accent gives away the fact that he hails from Germany originally, and his thinning hair and smattering of wrinkles makes Castle guess he is in his sixties.

"Do you work from this spot often?" Castle asks.

"Ja!" The old German answers proudly. "I have sold my wares here for nearly thirty years."

"That's fantastic," Castle smiles widely, then gestures over his shoulder with his thumb. "so you probably see the people who come and go from that building over there, don't you?"

The dough-boyesque man leans over slightly to better see where Castle is pointing. "Oh yes," he nods, "I can see the doors quite well from here. I have seen many things in my time here on the corner."

"Can you tell me anything about the woman sitting in the chair near the window?"

The German squints his eyes and falls silent as he stares. Castle turns to look as well, and is thankful that from this angle they can see most of her profile.

"I'm afraid I do not recall ever seeing her before. I am sorry I can't be of any more help."

Castle briefly holds up a hand. "No need to be sorry, I was just curious. Now, I'll take two coffees," he pauses and peruses the clear display case of baked goods before him for a moment before he points to his selection, "and two of those, please."

"Excellent choice, sir," the vendor's light blue eyes sparkle as he smiles. "Any cream and sugar for the coffees?"

"Just put a few packs of each on the side, if you don't mind."

"Of course."

The German fills two paper cups with steaming coffee and places lids on top, and then puts the pastries in a small paper bag, one for each of them. He scoops up a small handful of each condiment and puts the packets in a tiny plastic bag. He places the cups in a carrier and lays everything else on the empty half. Castle pulls his wallet from his pocket, pays the man, and leaves a generous tip in the small jar by the cash drawer. He nods a farewell, takes the tray, and heads for the crosswalk a few feet away.

Castle waits for almost two minutes, and then the light changes. He crosses the street with the swarm of people that has gathered around him, and takes a left when he reaches the other sidewalk. His long legs quickly bring him to the front door of Regina's building. He balances the tray with one hand while he opens the door, and steps inside. Without hesitation he strides over to the stranger, and stops only when he is close enough to her for his feet to be in her line of sight. She looks up at him and her face scrunches with confused recognition.

"Um," she says after several moments, "can I help you?"

Castle lifts the tray to bring it to her attention. "This may sound a little odd, but the coffee vendor outside is having a buy one get one free deal, and he insisted I get two of everything I ordered. And I was walking by and I happened to see you sitting in here and thought I would offer you the extras so they don't go to waste."

The woman looks out the window at the vendor, then turns back to Castle and studies him, her eyes intense. Castle feels almost as if she can see into him and know that he is lying.

"I don't make a habit of taking food from people I don't know," she finally replies.

"That's a good philosophy," Castle grins while he sticks out his right hand, "my name is Rick Castle. Now you know me."

"I'm not sure your name is really enough to make me feel secure in taking food from you."

"Hey, I understand," he shrugs and lowers his hand, "I'll just give it to the nice lady behind the front desk," he starts to walk away.

"Wait."

Castle glances back over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Why did you offer it to me, anyway?"

"I don't know," Castle lies again as he turns back to face her, "you just looked like you could use a cup of coffee," he nods down at the tray in his hands, "and these bear claws are to die for." _It's probably true_, he thinks to himself.

He sees her bite her lip, chewing on it as she mentally chewed on his words. "The coffee does smell pretty good," she admits.

"It tastes even better."

Castle swears he can hear her debating with herself.

"Okay," she sighs, "I'll take you up on your offer."

"Great" he exclaims with another smile as he walks back to her, "but I still don't know your name."

She holds her hand up to him. "My name is Kate," she pauses as he wraps his hand around hers and shakes it up and down. "Kate Beckett."

"Well, Kate Beckett, it's a pleasure to meet you." He lets go of her hand and holds the tray down in front of her.

She takes one cup of coffee, one of the bear claws, and a couple packets of sugar and creamer. "Thank you, Mr. Castle."

"Again, the pleasure is all mine," he hesitates, but then decides to go for more, "so, do you work here in the building?"

"No," Beckett answers quickly, "I'm just waiting for someone."

"Ah," Castle replies simply, "well, enjoy the refreshments."

"I will," she smiles, "and thank you again."

Castle smiles back at her, then turns and heads for the exit. He has a date with the internet.

* * *

It's almost 4:00 when Castle hears her clear her throat. He looks up and grins.

"Hello there, Daughter."

"Hello to you, Father," Alexis walks further into his office, "what are you up to?"

"Work," he answers plainly.

Alexis comes around his desk and skims over the screen. "She's pretty," she says when her eyes fall on a picture at the bottom of the article, "are you sure this is work?" she teases.

"Yes," Castle leans back in his chair and crosses his arms, "I'm pretty sure that she is sleeping with my client's husband."

"Oh."

"Yeah," he sighs, "and she's quite the curious character."

"In what way?"

"Well, while I was researching her I learned that she has one heck of a torrid past, but about two years ago it's almost as if she dropped off the face of the earth."

"What do you mean?"

"Just that," he glances up at her. "I can find all kinds of information about her up until two years ago. Then nothing." He bookmarks the webpage, shuts down his laptop, closes the lid, and stands. "But I'll try and figure that out later. I have to go back out for work tonight, but I don't need to leave for a couple of hours. How about we talk about your day over a bowl of ice cream?"

"Sounds good," Alexis nods, "you lead the way to the kitchen."

* * *

**A/N - From this point forward, we will post a new chapter every Wednesday and Sunday. Thank you for reading our story!**


	4. Chapter 3

She stares down at the bear claw in her hand, flips it over before taking a tentative bite. She's done it again – forgotten to eat breakfast, and now it's nearing 1pm, and the groaning in her stomach is causing her to lose her better judgment. She holds in a moan – the pastry is just that good – and try as she might, she just can't stop a smile from erupting on her face. _Stupid, Kate. So stupid_. How can she be flattered by the attention of a man who is sleeping with a married woman? Kate glances toward the elevators, where there's been no change in activity, and wonders why Richard Castle's mistress – Regina – wasn't the object of his altruism. Surely Regina could use a coffee right now, Kate thinks. She hadn't seen her eating anything in the shop this morning. Richard Castle makes absolutely no sense.

Kate spends the next thirty minutes analyzing the author of her favorite novel, before she is greeted with the sight of a certain tall blonde as she steps out of the elevator. Regina's walking quickly, and Kate notices that she's with a woman this time, conversing with her on very friendly terms. The two women stop before leaving the lobby, just within Beckett's earshot.

"Oh, by the way – thank you so much for the tickets to LaPaloma tonight. I've always wanted to go and I know it was a lot of trouble for you to get those for us, especially discretely."

Regina's friend, another beautiful woman who appears to be of Filipino decent, shakes her head and smiles.

"No problem. I hope you two enjoy the show." Regina nods back at her, and waves her friend outside the double doors. She glances at her watch nervously, and turns to look over the lobby as if she's thinking hard, trying to decide what to do next. Her eyes bounce around the room, and land on Kate's.

Kate's breath catches and she feels a jolt of panic. The high-powered lawyer is looking in her direction with wary eyes, and Kate buries her features behind a cascade of hair, trying to deter Regina from committing her face to memory. Kate is sure that if Regina is observant, she's seen her loitering nearby at some point. It's just the sort of thing that can make or break a case for a PI. Once she's been noticed, collecting information becomes infinitely harder – if not impossible.

Regina's eyebrows twitch, and she rubs between them furiously with the tips of her fingers. Finally, she marches back to the elevator, her face inches from the screen of her cell phone, and disappears as the elevator begins its ascent.

Kate breathes a sigh of relief. The bullet's been dodged. For now.

* * *

Kate barrels into her office in a mad rush to secure tickets to that opera performance tonight. Regina's nervous ticks and wary eyes when she came down to walk her friend to the curb seemed to suggest that the woman might show up to the opera tonight with the man she's screwing on the side – none other than Richard Castle, which still came as a shock to Kate. Hopefully, with enough distance between her and Regina in the theatre, she will be able to finally gather enough information to finish up this job. It's only been a couple of days, but she already hates it. She'd taken a call from Scott Taverner on her drive over, filling him in on what little information she'd gathered so far. She didn't tell Scott that she knew Richard Castle's name. For some reason, she just couldn't bring herself to give him any details about the man without proof that he was actually sleeping with her client's wife.

She rushes through the door and opens her laptop, looking to find information on a showing of La Paloma in the city tonight. Though she finds the performance in question rather quickly, it takes several hours of calling around before she finally secures a ticket for herself. As tired as she is, the adrenaline pumping through her veins keeps her going as she catches a cab back to her apartment to change for the opera.

* * *

Kate sags into her apartment, allowing her messenger bag to sink to the floor, and drops her keys somewhere on the table. She immediately heads for her bathroom – she is far overdue for a long, toasty shower – when she stops dead in her tracks. Her hand automatically reaches for her hip, where she's met with only the ghost of her glock, a hollow space where it used to rest – it's been two years, but she still forgets sometimes. Her nerves settle after a second, but she can't help lashing out.

"Josh! What the hell are you doing here? You scared the shit out of me!" She looks up into his face, expecting to see smugness, but oh._ Is that hurt in his eyes?_

"Kate, I… I thought…" he stammers, trying to salvage this awkward situation. Her heart sinks at the realization that _she's_ _done it again._ She looks into his brown eyes, notices his disheveled hair, and the stubble dotting his chin. He'd probably just gotten off an overnight shift.

"Josh, I - I'm so sorry. I forgot we had a date tonight."

He looks at her, wets his lips. "I know, Kate. It happens. But hey –" he reaches for her, and she comes closer, allows him to rest his hands on her shoulders, "the night is still young, right?" He arches his eyebrows at her, full of hope and delight, and damn it if that's not irresistible, but she fiddles with the ring that hangs on a chain around her neck, bites her bottom lip as she wrestles to get the words out.

"I'm in the middle of a job, and I have to follow through with something tonight – Josh, I'm sorry. I just – "

The way his face falls nearly brings her to her knees, he is such a loving man, but her job is so unpredictable, and so is his, and she can't ask him to put her first – not when she knows she can't put him first in return. This is why they've worked for so long, always at the last minute, no strings attached, both with one foot outside the door. But, if she has to come home to him in her apartment, with that crestfallen look in his eyes – she can't do it anymore.

"I know. You got caught up." He shrugs, and she can see the moment he steels his gaze and tries to bottle up his disappointment, let it roll off his back. It's not okay. This isn't fair to him. "Kate, I'm trying to understand here. I really like being with you, and I know you like being with me. I just can't understand how I'm always the one to pull the short straw."

That one stings. She blinks at him, tries to mask the sharp burning sensation behind her eyes.

"This was always about convenience Josh." She says, her voice a harsh whisper, reinforcing those walls she's been building around her heart since the untimely death of her mother.

Josh lifts his hand and strokes her cheek with his broad thumb. She knows she's hurt him, but she can't bring herself to relent. She feels the warmth of his body as he brushes past her, grabs his coat, and leaves the apartment wordlessly.

Kate might've crumbled, agonizing over the tattered state of her relationships, but instead, she drags herself into the bathroom, determined. La Paloma starts in less than two hours, and Kate Beckett has to be there.

* * *

The lobby is packed full of elite New Yorkers nibbling on hor d'oeuvres. Kate groans inwardly. She's never been a huge fan of crowds, and she's running purely on adrenaline now, focusing on finding Regina, gathering evidence, and getting this job _done_. She carries her phone and a lipstick in her clutch – one for photography, and the other a highly secretive listening device. She steps into the main swell of sophisticated patrons and opera connoisseurs, and tries to blend seamlessly into the crowd. Maybe she should've forgone the skimpy blue dress. It's classy, but skin-tight, wrapping around her body as if it were part of her. The neckline plunges, and the hemline rests above mid-thigh. She realizes that several of the men in the lobby are openly gawking at her, and she avoids eye contact with all but the one offering her a cocktail, which she eagerly accepts, relishing the tingly burn in the back of her throat with the first sip.

Kate steps to the side and begins scanning the crowd, searching for a mass of blonde hair and a domineering voice that can only belong to Regina Taverner. Her eyes dance across a figure, and she inwardly gasps. She feels her breath catch as she surveys the man who stands only a few feet in front of her, wearing a tailored suit and a deep blue dress shirt that brings out his eyes. His mouth crinkles around the edges as it cracks into a smile, and Kate tries to quiet the mass in her stomach, a mixture of butterflies and burgeoning disappointment. He _actually_ came to the opera with Regina. He's really screwing her. The author of her favorite book.

Kate nonchalantly pulls her phone out of her clutch, sticks the bag under her arm. When she lifts her head again to determine her target, Richard Castle is gone. She roams the room with her eyes for several minutes before she is able to pick him out of the crowd again. Now he's across the room, talking to someone who looks like – _is that the_ _mayor? _–and cutting up. He ends his conversation, and turns around, staring in Kate's direction. Kate ducks behind someone, tries to keep herself out of his line of vision when a blonde bombshell brushes past her. She's taller than most of the men in her four inch stilettos, and she's arm in arm with… her husband. Oh.

Kate makes a move to leave, partially annoyed with Scott Taverner for not letting her know that he was the one accompanying his wife to the opera tonight, and partially relieved that there's no reason for her to stick around and mingle awkwardly for the rest of the night. She wants to go home, wash off her day with a looong soak in a bubble bath, maybe pour herself a glass of wine…

As she nears the front doors to the Metropolitan Opera, she notices Richard Castle again, now talking to a couple of suspicious looking characters right outside the front doors. One of the men is tall, with long straggly blonde hair and an obnoxious chin, the other looks like part wrestling coach, part secret service. Kate watches them, intrigued, for several minutes. Suddenly, all three men turn and move to enter the lobby again.

Kate turns back toward the theatre, where most of the guests have already seated themselves for the performance, and searches the room for Regina and Scott. They're sitting in the center, just a few rows from the back. Kate sits down near the back left, choosing a seat where she can see the two of them in plain view from the back. As the lights dim, and the curtains open, the two sketchy men she'd seen outside the lobby slip in, sitting directly behind Scott and Regina. Kate is suddenly glad she decided to stay. This isn't part of her job, she doesn't have to be here anymore, but her immense curiosity won't let her make an exit quite yet.

As the first aria begins, Kate feels movement beside her and turns, finding herself face to face with a smirking Richard Castle. He smiles at her, twitches an eyebrow in silent conversation and she rolls her eyes and groans. _What on earth is he doing here?_

"What on earth are you doing here?!" She whispers harshly, and to the man's credit, he looks genuinely afraid of her.

"Lovely to see you again. I'm… just enjoying the opera, Ms. Beckett. And you?"

_Ugh. The ass._ Kate is perturbed by his response, so much so that she stutters a little in her response. "Wh – why aren't you with your _girlfriend_ tonight?" She gestures in Regina's direction with her gaze.

In all honesty, she's a little afraid that he's here as the jealous lover, which would make him dangerous and unpredictable. He doesn't seem to catch her drift, however, and never looks away from her face, his eyes boring into hers with something that can only be described as childish delight.

"Why Ms. Beckett, are you trying to ask me if I'm single?" Kate gawks at his audacity and chokes, unable to form a response before he continues. "Because, if so, the answer is a resounding yes."

Kate finally finds her voice.

"I'm _talking_ about the woman I saw you with this morning, Regina Taverner? You two were awfully cozy. Or, have you already forgotten her and moved on to the next bimbo by now?" Castle's face contorts, and then relaxes in realization. He lets out a boisterous laugh, almost too loud for even the very back row of the opera, and Kate gapes at him, utterly confused, before it hits her.

"You're a PI."

Now it's Castle's turn to look utterly confused. "How did you? Whoa. That was amazing."

Kate holds back her laugh, but can't suppress her amused grin. He looks like a little child who'd just seen Santa Claus. Kate offers no response, as that moment the music swells to a crescendo, and the two of them turn back towards the performance, both pretending to be completely engrossed. Kate puts the pieces together in her head. He _had_ only written one novel that she knew of – and she'd looked for others – so it was plausible that he would have another source of employment. And the way he was speaking to Regina that morning at the coffee shop, just seemed… off. He was overly friendly, but not quite overly friendly enough to be her lover. Being a PI herself, she easily put the pieces together after seeing him here as well. She wonders what he's investigating. Of course, there's no way _in hell_ she is going to tell him that she's a PI too. That could get messy – fast. Ugh. But now she's back to square one in regards to Regina.

Castle is pretending to be enraptured by the ingénue's performance, but Kate can tell that his mind is, uh, elsewhere. Her first clue is the way he begins glancing over at her, she can see the darting of his eyes in her peripheral vision. Near the end of act one, his hands begin to float close to her bare thigh, wandering. She can feel the heat of them, and it's insanely distracting. She thinks she feels his pinky ghosting across her skin, but she can't be sure whether or not it's her imagination.

Kate doesn't have the chance to confirm or deny the pinky's existence before the lights come back up, and the curtain closes, signaling the end of Act One. Kate stands up, pulling her dress down to a reasonable length and stretches her arms above her head. She purposefully avoids looking at Castle – that is, until he nearly shouts in her ear in an attempt to be heard over the murmuring of the crowd.

"So… can I buy you a drink?"

Wow. Shameless. Before she has time to formulate a reply, Regina saunters down the main aisle, and Kate is directly in her line of vision. After her scare at the office building this morning, Kate has no room to risk being ducks around Castle, and he follows her to the end of their row. Kate sinks into a shadow behind a decorative plant. Castle's right there behind her. _Oh_. He looks amused. He's much too close for her liking, and way too close for her to be comfortable. She tries to control her breathing, avoids eye contact at all costs, as she feels a jolt of arousal shoot through her central nervous system.

Castle clears his throat, and Kate steels her gaze before looking up at him. Wow, he's so much taller than her, even in her heels. He's wearing a smug expression and Kate musters up a look of annoyance.

"What?"

"I figured it out."

Kate waits him out, but he doesn't answer, just continues to stare. "What, Castle?!"

She shrugs and pushes on his chest, moving out from behind the plant - Regina's surely out of the way by now. She needs some air. He follows her into the bustling lobby, and out onto the front stoop.

Castle blurts it out as soon as they're out of the general public's earshot. "You're a PI too." Kate gapes at him, entirely unable to form a response. "That explains a lot," he continues. "Are you following the Taverners too? Why are you always around when I'm around? That's how you figured out who I was. It has to be."

"Alright, fine. Yes, Castle. You happy? I'm a private investigator." She stops there, but he's still staring at her, expecting her to continue. "Can we just leave it at that?" she says.

He grins. "Of course we can. But for the record, you are one smoking hot private investigator." She looks at him with disdain, but her cheeks stain with color. He leans in closer. "And did you know you have gorgeous eyes?"

"Just… let me do my job Mr. Castle."

She's back to using formalities with him. It quiets the rough thrumming of her heart. Kate pushes past him again, and goes back into the theatre to sit, waiting for the curtains to rise, beginning Act Two. She scans the crowd with her eyes and she feels a warm body – Castle, no doubt – seating himself beside her again. As Act Two begins, she easily spots Regina, who's sitting alone now. Huh. The two seats behind her are empty as well, where the two suspicious looking men were. Suddenly she feels a rush of movement beside her and turns her head just in time to see Castle's form disappearing from the room. In a flash, she makes a decision to follow him. Some part of her – call it her intuition – believes he might be on his way to do something incredibly stupid.

Kate steps into the now vacant lobby, and spots Castle diving into a staircase next to a bank of elevators. She immediately regrets her choice of outfit as she begins her running ascent up the stairs, being greatly hindered by the tight fabric. She runs up several flights of stairs and stops when she sees Castle at the top, his ear against the door. She's winded, but too intrigued to care, and when she places her ear against the door as well, his face splits into an enormous grin. Castle motions for her to be quiet, and she rolls her eyes at him – _really? I'm a PI too. I think I know to be quiet_. Castle opens the door carefully and Kate is the first to stick her head through.

"I don't see anyone." She whispers back to him, and he places his hand on her upper back – her exposed back – and pushes her into the hallway, lightly.

They're on the top floor of the opera building, the balcony, but also where the offices are located.

"They have to be up here, there's no other place they could've gone." He stage whispers to her, tiptoeing through the corridor. He comes to the first door at the end of the hallway and tests the knob.

"It's open!" He says, as he pushes the door into the dark room, looks at her with a wide open mouth and gleeful eyes.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." She rolls her eyes at him, and he motions for her to go ahead, he'd be right behind her.

It's an office all right, dark and boring. Kate's eyes adjust quickly and she sees the usual – a desk, a couple of shelves – turns back to tell Castle that there's nothing here. She hears a click, and the darkness gets deeper.

"Uh-oh."

"Castle? What is it?"

"The door just closed."

"What do you mean the door just closed? Didn't you close it?" She moves toward him in the darkness, slams into his broad chest and steps back, thankful that this room is dark enough to hide her embarrassment.

"I dunno. It just closed, but Kate?"

"What Castle?" Kate replies, trying to keep her voice from sounding panicky. It sounds like he's wiggling the doorknob.

"It's locked."


	5. Chapter 4

"What do you mean it's locked?"

"Um," Castle shrugs, "I mean it's locked."

"It was just open."

"Well, now it's not."

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything."

"You had to have done something," Kate hisses, "What kind of door only locks from the inside?"

"Maybe the person who works in here hates their job and tries to escape so their boss locks them in."

"Surely you can't be serious."

"No, I'm not serious. It was a joke. And don't call me Shirley." Castle grins, but then realizes she can't really see his expression. "Okay, there has to be a key in here, so we just need to look for it."

"Good idea."

"I bet I can find it first," he chuckles.

"What are you, nine?" Kate sighs. "This isn't a game, Castle."

He watches her silhouette move to walk around him. "Where are you going?"

"To find the light switch," she replies. "There's no reason for us to stumble around in the dark while we look for the key."

Castle has to take a deep breath to focus his mind as she brushes past him. In the dim light all he can see is her outline, and that painted on piece of fabric she's wearing doesn't leave much to his over active imagination. The heat he feels as she passes rushes through his veins, lighting his blood on fire as his excited heart pumps it rapidly throughout his body. He knows that turning the lights on won't make things any better for him, but maybe knowing that she'll be able to see him will keep him from staring.

"Castle, help me find the light switch, will you? It isn't here by the door."

"Maybe there isn't a switch in the room," he makes his way to the other side of the doorway and begins feeling all over the wall. "Some of these office buildings have main control rooms for the lights, and you can only turn them on and off from there."

"Well let's hope that isn't the case."

"Do you have a flashlight?"

"Where would I keep a flashlight in this outfit?" Kate scoffs at him.

"I don't know," he takes a step in her direction and lowers his voice, "but if you need help finding a place, I'm happy to offer my assistance."

He hears her groan lightly, but she otherwise ignores his statement. "Don't _you_ have a flashlight?"

"No, I don- wait," he reaches into his jacket pocket.

"So you do have a flashlight?"

"Not exactly, but I do have an app for that," he smiles as the screen illuminates his face.

He types in his password and finds the flashlight icon.

"Hey, you wanna point that thing somewhere else?"

Castle looks up from his phone and sees that the bright light from the tiny bulb is directed right at Kate's now scrunched up face. "Sorry," he says as he turns away.

He shines the light up and down both sides of the door with no luck, then starts sweeping it over the rest of the walls. Four eyes follow the light as it makes a pass over each section of the small office, but thirty seconds later they still haven't been able to find a switch. Castle puts his phone under his arm and claps twice loudly.

"What are you doing, Castle?"

"Seeing if the lights have a clapper installed. And since I can't see you rolling your eyes at me, I'm going to go ahead and say that they don't."

"Let's just use your light to look for the key," she huffs out.

Castle walks over to the desk and opens the middle drawer. He sifts through a mess of paper clips, staples and rubber bands, but comes up empty handed. He closes it and moves on to the top of the remaining two drawers to his right. Kate sets her clutch down on the desk and starts moving her long fingers over the surface. Castle glances over at her and forgets all about looking through the drawer. His eyes have adjusted to the darkness now, and he can't bring himself to tear his gaze from the milky whiteness of her skin, enticing even in the near blackness of the room. Suddenly all he can think of is revealing more of that gorgeous skin, lights and keys be damned.

"You're not going to find the key there, Castle." Her voice abruptly brings him from his thoughts. "And you should close your mouth."

Castle snaps his teeth together. He hadn't even realized his mouth had been open. He starts to respond, but just chuckles instead and turns back to the drawer. This one has some papers but still no key, and it takes no time at all to strike out on the third and final drawer.

"I got nothing," he says as he closes the drawer with his foot.

"Me either," Kate straightens and heads towards the shelves on the far side of the room. Castle follows her, and they start looking and feeling around the books and knickknacks. "So," she begins a moment later, "who were those men with Scott Taverner?"

"What men?" Castle asks distractedly.

"The ones we chased up here."

"I don't know them."

"You were talking to them before the opera started."

"I was feeling them out."

"For what?"

"I've seen them around Scott several times, and I thought maybe they might be able to confirm my suspicions of who his mystery mistress is."

"Wait," Kate grabs his forearm and turns him to face her, "are you telling me that your case is to find out who Scott is having an affair with?"

"Yeah," Castle chuckles, "and until I figured out your profession a while ago, I thought it you were his get-away-from-it-all gal." Kate laughs so hard that her head falls back. "What's so funny about that?" he asks her, totally confused by her reaction.

It takes her a moment to collect herself enough to answer. "I thought you were Regina's lover until tonight."

Castle cocks his head to one side. "Wait, you were hired by Scott to see who Regina was cheating on him with?"

"Well, and to confirm if she was actually cheating, yeah."

"Huh. What are the odds?"

"Apparently pretty good," she shrugs, "because here we are."

"Here we are indeed." Castle quickly rakes his eyes up and down her lithe body, not even caring if the light from his phone allows her to see him do so. Her hand is still on his arm, heating his skin even through the sleeves of his dress shirt and suit jacket. He can't stop himself from looking down at where they are connected, and the movement seems to clue her in to the fact that she is holding onto him because she immediately lets go.

"So if you don't know those men, why did you run after them?"

Castle can tell the question is more about keeping things professional rather than actual curiosity, but he answers anyway. "Like I said, I've seen them with Scott several times and when neither he nor they came back for act two I figured something was up."

"How'd you know they were up here?"

"I watched the numbers above the elevator, and it didn't stop until it reached this floor." Castle explains. "So unless they rode it straight back down, they have to still be on the floor."

Kate sighs deeply, making her chest swell and Castle's breath catch. He shakes his head. This is getting out of hand. Yes, she is ravishingly beautiful, even in the dim light, but Castle has to stop reacting like a horny teenager with every movement she makes. _Focus on the job, _he tells himself, _not on that dress or those heels or that hair or those lips._ He shakes his head again. That train of thought is certainly not helping.

"Why do you keep shaking your head?"

_Oops_. Castle's eyes widen. "I have dust in my eyes from digging around on these shelves."

She raises an eyebrow in what looks like disbelief, but she doesn't say anything more about it. _Thank god_. Suddenly he whips his head around to look at the door that was keeping them trapped here.

"What is it, Castle?"

"Do you hear that?" he whispers.

Several moments pass before he hears her respond, her voice also low. "Someone's out in the hall," she starts to move past him, but he stops her by grabbing her hand. "What are you doing, Castle? Let go."

He doesn't let go. "Wait."

"Why?" she mutters harshly as she tugs her hand from his. "They can let us out of here."

"It's probably Scott, Antonio, and Louis."

"What's your point?"

"Do you want them to know we followed them up here?" The way her face scrunches up tells him that she doesn't. "Come on, let's listen to what they are saying. We'll figure out how to get out of here once they leave."

He walks over to the door and presses his ear to the thick wood.

"I thought you said you didn't know them?" Kate murmurs as she comes up next to him, mirroring his position at the door.

He glances down at her briefly, but keeps his ear firmly planted. "I know their names, but that's about it."

"So tell me their names."

"Antonio DeLuca is the Fabio wannabe," he pauses when he hears her stifle a laugh, "and the other guy is Louis Meech." A few silent moments pass, and then Castle quietly sighs out his frustration. "I can't make out what they are saying."

"Me either," Kate steps back from the door, "but I have an idea."

Castle watches her carefully make her way back to the desk, then lifts his phone to shine some light in her direction. She picks up her clutch, opens it, and starts back towards him as she pulls something out of it.

"How is lipstick going to help us hear them better?" he asks incredulously.

"Watch and learn, Castle," She grins at him, then twists the top of the tube, but doesn't lift it off. "It's not really lipstick," she explains as she kneels down by the door and slips one end of the tiny tube underneath it.

"Oh, it's a micro camera?"

"No, it only records sound," she tells him, "but we'll be able to listen to what they are talking about."

"Does it have a speaker for playback abilities?"

"No, you have to hook it up to an external speaker."

"Still, that's really awesome," his voice can't hide his excitement. "I need to get one of those for myself."

"Yeah, because a man carrying lipstick isn't going to look odd."

"Naturally I'll find a manly version."

"A manly lipstick? I don't think they mak-"

The abrupt end to her sentence comes as she lifts her head to look up at him. Her eyes dart up to his, then return to directly in front of her. It takes him a moment to catch on to why he could see the slightest hint of color staining her cheeks. She starts trying to get up, so Castle reaches a hand down to help her, but she bats it away. His rejected limb bumps loudly into the door, and they both freeze. Neither has a chance to recover before the door swings open, causing them to blink rapidly in the light that replaces the mostly dark they've been in. Once their pupils adjust, they find themselves staring at a rather annoyed looking Scott Taverner.

"Miss Beckett," he scoffs, "what the hell is this?"

This time Kate takes Castle hand when he offers it, and he helps pull her to her feet. "Mr. Taverner, this isn't what it looks like."

"Really?" he crosses his arms. "Because what it looks like is you getting ready to perform an act of public sexual indecency while you're supposedly on the clock."

"No, let me expla-"

"No explanation needed," he interrupts, "if you think you can play me for the fool by telling me you'd be here to work and then sneak off to -"

"Now wait just a second," Castle steps between Kate and Scott, "we were locked in this room by accident and when we heard you talking we were trying to get your attention to let us out. Miss Beckett simply knelt down to slide a note under the door so you'd see it."

"First of all," Scott snaps, "I don't know who the hell you are, and I don't care. Secondly, if you're going to lie, try to at least make it believable." He holds up a hand when Castle opens his mouth to speak. "And lastly," he leans to the side so he can look Kate in the eyes, "you're fired."

"Mr. Taverner, ple-"

"Since I signed a contract, I'll send a check for services rendered to your office, but we are parting ways as of now." He scowls. "I should have never hired a woman."

Before Kate can respond to that, he turns and heads for the waiting elevator, which is already occupied by DeLuca and Meech. Castle starts after him, but is stopped by a firm hand around his wrist.

"Don't, Castle," Kate says, her tone angry, "he's not worth it."

The way she's chewing on her bottom lip with fury burning through her eyes makes it hard for Castle to believe her, but he nods and she drops his arm. He remains silent until the elevator door has closed, then faces her. "I'm sorry, Kate."

"Forget about it," she picks up the lipstick recorder, turns it off, tosses it back into her clutch, walks across the hall, and presses the button to bring the car back up.

Castle powers down the flashlight on his phone and returns it to his pocket as he comes to stand beside her. "Um," he hesitates, but then decides just to go for it, "since I kind of just got you fired, how about you let me get you that drink."

"I just want to go home, Castle."

"There's this great bar, and I know the owner," he continues, "You can have whatever you want, on the house. All you can drink," he adds.

"So, you're offering to buy me a free drink?"

He smiles, if only because there is a hint of a smile on her face. "I'll pay for it if that makes you feel better."

He waits, watching her; unsure of what she is thinking. "One drink," she finally says.

"Great," Castle's grin widens.

Just then the elevator arrives and the doors open. He gestures for her to step inside first, then follows her, coming to a rest by her side.

"What's this great bar called, anyhow?"

"The Old Haunt," he replies as the doors slide shut.

* * *

"May I take your coat?" Castle asks once the heavy door shuts behind him.

"Oh, sure," Kate nods, "thank you."

Castle unashamedly lets his fingers trail over the exposed skin of her shoulders as he pulls her coat off slowly, but the glare she shoots him keeps him from continuing to her upper back. He drapes the garment over his forearm before stepping around in front of her.

"Come on," he jerks his head towards the back of the room.

She falls in step behind him and he strides deliberately across the beautiful wooden floors.

"Evening, Mr. Castle," the bartender calls out, "Want anything to eat tonight?"

Castle glances over his shoulder at Kate, who shakes her head, then looks back to the bar. "No thank you, David."

"Okay then," the young man smiles, "just call up if you need anything."

"Will do."

"Call up?" Kate inquires, "What does he mean?"

"Oh, we're going downstairs," Castle answers.

"This place has a downstairs bar as well?"

"Hmmm, sort of."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He stops in front of the door that leads to the office below. "The answer lies just beyond this doorway." He opens it up and bows slightly. "After you, ma'am, and please, watch your step."

She rolls her eyes at him, but he doesn't mind. He's never met anyone who could roll their eyes in such a sexy way. He lets her get most of the way down the stairs before he starts after her, pulling the door closed behind him. When he catches up to her, she is gazing all around the room, mouth slightly open in what he assumes is amazement. The room is quite breathtaking, and though not many people get to see it, the reaction is usually the same as hers. Almost everything is still original, save for the computer of course. It's like going back into time, when craftsmanship mattered and details were important.

"This is," she pauses as if searching for the right words, "gorgeous."

"Gorgeous doesn't begin to describe what I'm seeing."

Kate turns to face him, and when she sees that he isn't looking at the room, but at her, red stains her cheeks. She turns back around quickly to try and hide it, but Castle sees it nonetheless.

She clears her throat. "So how about that drink?"

"Any requests?"

"Surprise me."

"Can do," Castle takes a few steps over to the couch and lays her coat over one of the arms. "Have a seat, make yourself comfortable, and I'll be right back."

He goes over to a lever in the far wall and pulls it down to open the secret door. He hears the quiet gasp, and doesn't need to see her face to know it's covered in shocked wonder. He goes through the opening and comes back with a bottle, wiping the light layer of dust off after shutting the door. He grabs a corkscrew and two glasses from a small cabinet, then takes a seat next to Kate. Without him having to ask, she holds her hands out to take the glasses so he can open the wine. Once he has done so, he takes one glass, fills it, trades with her, fills his own, and sets down the bottle on the small table in front of them. He watches her swirl the deep red liquid around gently, breathe in the aroma it releases, and then take a sip. Her eyes close and he can't help but chuckle.

"Good, huh?"

"Delicious," she hums, "what is this?"

"A 2000 Châteauneuf-du-Pape," he tells her, "nothing decompresses quite like it, in my opinion."

Kate takes another sip and then looks around the room again. "So," she raises her eyebrows, "I take it from the picture on the shelf behind the desk that the reason you know the owner is because you are the owner?" Castle glances at the framed photo and nods. "Who are the redheads with you?"

"My mother and daughter," he beams, "Martha and Alexis."

"You're a father?"

"Does that surprise you?"

"A little, yes," she pulls her bottom lip in between her teeth, and the emotion that flashes briefly in her eyes is hard for Castle to read. "Where, um, where is her mother?' Her voice is a bit lower, the tone of it almost nervous.

"In Hollywood," he answers simply.

"Oh."

_Is she relieved? _Castle sips at his wine, his eyes on Kate, still trying to figure out what exactly is different about her mood. _No, she seems_, he can't put his finger on it, _sad? What would make her sad about the whereabouts of my daughter's mother? _He desperately wants to ask what's going on behind those enchanting eyes, but something tells him to not push her.

"So, Castle, tell me, why do you own a bar?"

He takes the subject change as confirmation that he made the right decision to not question her reaction. "Well," he shrugs, smirks, "you probably know this, but I wrote a novel."

"Oh, really?"

"A bestseller," he continues, "It's called _A Rose For Everafter_. Ever heard of it?"

"Maybe," she takes a sip of her wine, "I read a lot, so maybe I've read it, and maybe I haven't." She quickly swallows another drink, entrancing Castle with the bob of her throat as the alcohol makes its way down. "So anyway," she goes on, "what does a book have to do with the bar?"

"I wrote a lot of it here," he explains, "and so I bought the bar after the book went to number one, you know, as a way to preserve the place where my story was born."

"Cocky much, Castle?"

Something in her tone arrests his heartbeat for a few seconds. There is an innuendo somewhere in that statement, of this he is almost positive. But in case it's just wishful thinking, he doesn't fire one back. "I'd like to think of it as being sentimental."

"Well, it's a nice place."

"Thank you."

They fall into silence then, each drinking slowly. Kate lets her eyes wander around the room some more, and Castle watches her, which is something that is quickly becoming a favorite pastime.

"Stop staring, Castle," She brings her eyes back to meet his.

"You can call me Rick, you know."

"Sorry," she shrugs, "old habit."

"From your detecting days?" His statement shocks her. He can tell by the widening of her eyes and he immediately regrets saying it, because he didn't mean to shock her. Not like that, anyway.

"How did you know I used to be a detective?"

"I thought you were sleeping with my client's husband," he says innocently. "I did research on you. Don't tell me you didn't do the same to me."

"Don't flatter yourself, Castle." She sounds angry. "I did research on Regina, that's it. What else did you find out while snooping into my personal life?"

"Whoa now, slow down," he holds a hand up defensively. "I was just doing my job."

"You must not have done it all that well, since you didn't even know I was a private investigator."

"All the information I could find stopped about two years ago. After-"

"I know what happened two years ago, Castle. You don't have to tell me." She sets her glass on the table and stands up. "Goodbye, Mr. Castle," she grabs her coat and starts to put it on. "Thank you for the wine."

Castle is dumbfounded. _How did this get so out of hand?_ She is heading to the staircase now. _I can't let her leave like this. _"Kate," he puts his own glass down and goes after her, "Wait, please." She's halfway up the steps. "Beckett, stop." The use of her last name gets her attention, and she turns to look at him, anger boiling in her eyes.

"What?" she demands.

"I had an ulterior motive for asking you here tonight."

"Of course you did," she chuckles angrily, "I'm not stupid, Castle."

"No, nothing like that," he waves his hand. Well, that's not entirely true, but that isn't the only reason he asked her to get a drink with him. "I want you to help me with my investigation."

"You what?"

"Scott Taverner is a class-A jerk, and I'm back at square one with regards to finding out who his mistress is."

"If you can't find that out on your own, I'm not sure how you make it in this business."

"This isn't about my abilities," Castle's tone is almost pleading now, but he doesn't care. He is absolutely not ready for this woman to walk out of his life. "He did wrong by you and I'm offering you a chance to help me catch the bastard with his pants down. Literally." He waits for an answer, but he receives nothing but a silent stare. "What do you say?" he asks again, "Will you partner up with me on this one case?"


	6. Chapter 5

Kate stares at the man in front of her, trying to win her over with a pleading gaze. He looks like a little boy. Her heart rate picks up speed and she feels the thrumming in the pads of her fingers.

"I'm sorry Mr. Castle." His face falls, and she turns away, heads for the top of the stairs so she doesn't have to look him in the eyes anymore. "It's been fun, but I think we need to go our separate ways. Good luck on your case." Her voice is almost a whisper, and she leaves the bar without turning back.

He doesn't chase after her, and for that she's grateful. She isn't sure she would be able to turn him down again, insist that he leave her alone. She sighs aloud as she exits the bar, the cold and dark New York air whipping against her face, causing her to pull her jacket tighter around her neck. A cab stops for her almost instantly and she climbs in, tells him her address and hums in pleasure as the heat of the warm car hits her feet. She leans her forehead against the cold window, watching the lights of the city pass her by, and tries to make sense of the past twenty-four hours.

* * *

Her apartment is blissfully quiet, or at least she thinks it's blissful, until she realizes that the ever-present empty air provides no barrier against an onslaught of her consciousness. After taking a hot shower and fixing herself a cup of green tea, her mind is still running back and forth over every action and every word uttered between her and Castle today. She needs to be able to rest, to stop wondering where things went wrong, how she could've prevented getting fired, and why she is having such trouble keeping that childish man's face out of her mind.

She is standing in her bedroom now, the soft light bouncing against the skin of her fingers as she runs them over the spines of her books. She flexes her toes against the hardwood and clutches her mug against her chest, willing the warmth of the ceramic to soothe her wired nerves. Her eyes catch on the tattered copy of _A Rose For Everafter_ and she picks it up – she can't help herself – and opens the front cover to read the words penned under the title page.

There is no way she would ever tell Castle that the two of them had met years earlier at one of his book signings, and there is no way in hell that she would tell him about the words he'd written in addition to signing his autograph, and what those words had meant to her after the loss of her mother. Her fingers trace over the handwritten words, and her breath catches in her throat. _To the beautiful Kate, things always get better. Richard_. It awes her to think that the man she'd met yesterday was the same man who'd had the ability to see through her so well that day so long ago. He'd forced his way into her life, and he doesn't even know how much he means to her.

Kate quickly slams the book shut and places it back on the shelf. _This is not helping s_he growls at herself, and pulls down another book, something completely opposite, to lose herself in.

She only gets about three chapters in before the book hits the floor and she succumbs to blissful sleep.

* * *

A groggy Kate Beckett drags her feet as she slowly shuffles into her kitchen. She'd slept away the weekend, waking up only for a few hours yesterday afternoon to shower and order in some food, but now, it's Sunday morning, and she feels more tired than ever. She needs coffee – the _strong_ stuff. She brushes her hair back off of her neck and pours herself a cup, stirring in a touch of cream – but no sugar. The first sip tastes like heaven on her tongue, hot enough to nearly singe, and she swears she can feel the caffeine zip through her bloodstream almost instantaneously. The sound of her stomach rumbling reminds her that she hasn't eaten in quite some time and _wow_, she's hungry, but Kate doesn't have much real food in her small studio apartment. The inside of her refrigerator looks like some kind of sacrifice to the gods of leftover take-out, but she does have some fresh milk. She finds a box of Cheerios in the cabinet and grabs a bowl and spoon.

Kate curls herself up on the sofa, bringing her knees up to rest against her chest, and flips on her television while she eats. She's about halfway through her bowl of Cheerios when she nearly drops the bowl.

"Stockbroker Scott Taverner was found dead this morning in an alley near his home in upper Manhattan. The mysterious circumstances surrounding his death have forced the police to rule Taverner's death a homicide. The NYPD is not releasing any other information at this time."

Kate fumbles for her remote, hits the rewind button, and watches the voluptuous Asian news anchor read the story again to make sure she heard correctly. Scott Taverner. Murdered. Last night. _Oh, Castle_. She picks up her cell phone instinctively to call him, despite the fact she doesn't have his number, but flinches, startled, when it rings in her hand. She answers it without thought, and is greeted with a familiar voice.

"Beckett, hey. It's Ryan."

She smiles. She had kept in touch with her boys at the 12th but it's been a while since she's heard the voice of her favorite Irish detective.

"Hey Ryan," the affectionate smile can be heard in her voice. "How's Jenny?"

The young detective chuckles, "She's great, thanks for asking. We're great. So, listen. We've got a guy down here, he's a person of interest in this murder case, and he's asking for you. Now, normally I wouldn't have called, and I know that it's technically against protocol, but he's just… he's absolutely insisting. Refusing to talk to anyone until he talks to you, and Beckett," Ryan's voice gets muffled, like he's covering the phone with his hand as he whispers, "he seems to know an awful lot about you. His name's –"

"Richard Castle," Kate interrupts.

"Whoa, okay. I'm confused." Kate can't help but laugh to herself as she imagines Kevin Ryan's creased forehead, his gaping mouth. "How did you know that?"

"Just, hang tight Kev, I'll be right there." She drops the phone onto the couch and abandons the last of her breakfast.

* * *

She finds Richard Castle in the interrogation room, and the nostalgia of this place hits her immediately, like a familiar scent that fills her nostrils and forces a memory to the surface. She's alone with him, it's what he wanted, but she knows her boys are in the observation room, Montgomery too, watching out for her just like old times. Her tenderhearted former boss had let her slide in to talk to the guy even though it was technically a violation of protocol.

Castle's smiling at her, he has been since she walked in the room. She's wary, weighing her options, as she tries to decide if he's going for smug or genuine. He is looking at her like she is a breath of fresh air, a drop of water in the middle of a desert wasteland. She picks up the file on the table, thumbs through it partly from curiosity, partly out of habit. He squirms while she reads, and she smirks. She's enjoying this. She misses this.

"Mr. Castle." She finally looks up at him, meets his eyes. He looks like he's going to combust. "You've got… quite a rap sheet… for a best-selling author." She's flipping through the papers in his file now, skimming the words,trying to figure this guy out.

"I'm a Private Investigator." He interrupts, but she keeps talking, unfazed.

"Disorderly conduct?" She looks up at him in disbelief, "Resisting arrest?"

Castle shrugs at her, stares, and the way he's looking at her makes her suddenly feel self-conscious, knowing that they have an audience. She swallows.

"Boys will be boys."

_Ugh._ Kate fights the urge to roll her eyes all the way to the back of her head – she should've known that one was coming – but she settles for a tight-lipped smirk.

"It says here that you stole a police horse?"

"Borrowed." He points out, and she nods, catches her lip between her teeth.

_He's unbelievable. _"Ah. And you were… nude at the time." She raises her eyebrows, waits to see what he'll say to talk himself out of this one.

"It was spring."

"And I see that every time, the charges were dropped." Kate pulls out the chair and sits, finally, dropping to his level, not even attempting to hide her annoyance. "Let's cut to the chase."

"Wow, Beckett, did I do something to make you angry, or did you just skip coffee this morning? If it's the latter, I'll be sure to bring you a cup next time I call you in for a favor." He waggles his eyebrows at her, and her heartbeat picks up at his obvious flirting, even with the knowledge that her former colleagues are observing their exchange from behind the one-way mirror.

"Good thing there won't be a next time." She leans in close, an intimidation technique, and he leans back away from her, eyes cast toward the ceiling. _Heh_. She's still got it. "Castle, do you realize what's at stake here?"

His resolve seems to slacken before he speaks. "I need your help Kate." She feels a thump in her chest at the use of her first name. "They think I did it."

Kate tries to remain as objective as possible, attempts to separate the man in front of her from the image she'd built in her mind of the man who's writing had been her saving grace. She's known him for only a few days, and yet – her gut is telling her that he isn't a killer.

"What evidence do they have against you? Why did they arrest you, Castle?"

"Well, your friend, SuperCop back there, mentioned something about surveillance footage of me at the scene. But Kaaaate," he whines, "I'm a Private Investigator, so of course I was watching the guy. Seriously, what reason would I have to kill him?"

Kate stares at him, her mouth agape.

"Let me get this straight, Castle. You were _watching_ Scott Taverner get _murdered_?" She runs her hand over her face, closes her eyes, and shakes her head. She can't believe this guy.

"Well, not exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"I was… distracted."

Kate opens her eyes, blinks in disbelief. "Of _course_ you were." She huffs, "You're… you." She stands up again, starts pacing back and forth, the tip of her thumb in her mouth as she gnaws on the nail. "Castle. They think you were stalking the victim – and you have no idea who actually killed the man because you were _distracted_?"

"It's not as bad as you make it sound, okay? But, yes. I was playing Angry Birds on my phone. Earlier that evening, I saw the two men – you remember the ones, right? Fabio and Shorty, from the opera?"

"Yes, Castle. How could I forget?" Her hands are resting on the table now, elbows slightly bent. She's focused on him, trying to read his body language, and she can tell it's making him uncomfortable.

"Right, so they followed Scott home from his office, so I figured I'd better follow him home too. I mean, I know I'm supposed to be finding out who his mistress is, and I don't think he's sleeping with those two guys, but you never know…"

Kate only responds to that with an explosive eye-roll, unable to resist the urge any longer, then sits back in the chair across from him with a groan. He just keeps right on talking.

"Beckett, I think they might be into something juicy… like international diamond smuggling, or cooking meth, or maybe devising a plot to assassinate a foreign ambassador… but I didn't see anything concrete. I decided to stakeout until I saw them leave." Castle stops there, and is looking at her like a child who just did a trick for his mother and is desperately seeking her praise. She blinks at him, waits him out, and then breaks the silence.

"Well?"

"Well, stakeouts are boring, Beckett. What did you expect me to do?"

"Your job, maybe?"

"I started playing Angry Birds, and then I must have fallen asleep in my car, because I woke up a few hours later. Everything was dark, and the car that the other two guys were driving was gone, so I left. That's it! Until a couple of uniforms showed up at my door this morning and brought me here."

Kate studies his face, tries to read his tells. Her gut is screaming that he's telling the truth. And yes, her gut is usually trustworthy, but she can't be sure with him. She's tentative. Has to be sure that her stupid heart hasn't put up blinders with him. Castle's staring at her now with a sheepish grin, and he looks like half little boy, half jackass, but she can see through the exterior. The charming, playboy façade he wears isn't fooling her.

"You're cute when you're concentrating. Did you know you get this little crease in your forehead?"

But it _is_ annoying as hell.

Kate tries to hide the fact that she's flustered by his flattery, leans back in her chair to put distance between them, and lowers her face to hide her blush, pretending to study the file on the table.

"Castle, focus." She murmurs.

"I am."

"On the case."

"Right." His eyes snap downward, following her gaze to the file on the table.

"So, you're the main suspect because you screwed your job up royally. That's it in a nutshell." She sees him wince in her peripheral vision.

"That's the gist of it, yeah."

They sit in a tense silence for several minutes, which seem like ages. Kate finally sighs, and closes the file.

"Alright Castle, I'll help you clear your name." She lifts her head just in time to see his eyes light up with relief.

"Thank you, Kate." He places his hand over hers in a moment of elation, and she jerks her fingers out of his grasp sharply, places them in her lap. "You won't regret this."

"I already do." She quirks her eyebrows at him, playfully, proving to him that she really doesn't regret it at all. "But, there's one condition, Castle."

"Of course. Name it."

"You absolutely, positively cannot interfere with the investigation. I'm not a cop anymore. I can't investigate this the same way I used to when I was a homicide detective. It would be against protocol, and I can get thrown out faster than you can blink. I will be working as a consultant with the 12th precinct and I sure as hell don't need you mucking things up. Can I trust you on this, Castle?"

He raises his hand in a salute.

"Scouts honor."


	7. Chapter 6

"Wait here," Kate tells him before walking quickly out of the room.

Castle has no option but to do as he was told. _It's not like I can just get up and walk out. I'm under arrest._ He sighs loudly, his frustration and boredom coming through in the exhalation. _Wait_. He cocks his head to one side. _I'm not actually under arrest. They never read me my rights and I'm not handcuffed. What exactly is stopping me from following her? Nothing._ He stands and takes three steps towards the door before he hears loud knocking from the mirrored glass across the room.

"Sit back down, Castle," The voice that comes through the glass is muffled, but unmistakeable. "Now."

He refrains from smiling, since Kate is obviously watching him from the other room, but he can't keep his mirth from twinkling in his eyes. He returns to his uncomfortable chair, deciding he better not push her too much. She had just agreed to help clear his name, after all. Once seated, he places one hand on the table, letting his fingers tap out a cadence to break the silence. His eyes wander around, taking in the sterile environment he's stuck in. The room is plain, but something about it piques his interest. Except for the blue door and chair rail, the room is bathed in dullness, browns and whites and grays wherever he looks. He focuses on the tiny dots in the white wall paneling and ceiling tiles, then his fingers fall still and a smile slowly spreads across his face. _This would make a great story. A Private Eye is accused of murdering his target._ He chuckles. _It practically writes itself. Too bad I'm not a writer anymore_. He continues gazing around the room and finds his mind going back in time.

When Alexis was born Castle had started looking for an additional line of work, deciding at the time that he needed a job he was in control of, not just one where his income depended on the whims of strangers at a bookstore. He'd been at a loss for what to do, because he'd never liked working for others, but he wanted to provide a good life for his daughter and the money from a single best seller wouldn't last forever. It wasn't until after his mother's life savings were wiped out by a man who'd married her to get at her cash that Castle realized he was a pretty good investigator. He had managed to track the con-man down and recover most of the money that he'd stolen.

He'd opened up his Private Investigation company two months later, hoping that by running his own detective business he could do the work he wanted to, when he wanted to, for the price he wanted to. Through some good luck, hard work, and no shortage of suspicious rich people looking for ways of of pre-nuptial agreements, he'd found a great deal of success. His mother had moved in with him after Meredith left, so the two of them had raised Alexis together, the three forming an odd but well functioning family. Since then he'd tried writing more novels, but none of the stories ever made it past a few chapters. The idea building in his head right now feels promising though, and he still has connections at Black Pawn. Maybe it's time to break back into the world of writing.

The door bursts open, wrenching Castle from his thoughts as he jumps in surprise. To his disappointment, it isn't Kate who barges in, but the butterscotch skinned detective who'd been completely against the idea of calling Kate.

"Come with me," Esposito grunts, and steps out of the room before Castle can stand up.

Castle glances at the two way mirror before heading out of the room, where he almost collides with Detective Ryan.

"Whoa, sorry," Castle exclaims as he comes to an abrupt halt, "your partner told me to follow him. I'm not trying to escape or anything."

"I know," the detective gestures in the direction that Esposito is headed, "I'm going with you."

"Where exactly is it that we are going?" Castle glances around him at the door that he assumes leads into the observation room that is on the other side of the mirror. "I thought Kate had cleared things up."

"Not quite," Ryan shakes his head, "just come on."

He starts off after Esposito, and not knowing what else he can do, Castle follows. He is relieved immediately when he crosses the threshold to the room the detectives are waiting for him in. It's just a break-room, with a couch and a table with some chairs. A refrigerator, drink machine, and snack machine hum quietly against the far wall, and on a cabinet to his right a coffee pot sits half full.

"Um, may I?" Castle asks, pointing at the coffee.

"Fine by me," Ryan answers with a shrug.

Castle looks for a disposable cup, but when he can't find one he opts for one of the ceramic mugs sitting upside down in a drying rack by the sink. He fixes his coffee and turns around to find Ryan and Esposito staring up at him from their seats at the table. It's intimidating to say the least, but not nearly as intimidating as Kate had been in the interrogation room. This wasn't as sexy either.

"Come sit with us," Esposito instructs him.

"Okay," Castle replies before he sits down in the seat opposite them. He sips at the coffee and it takes all his resolve not to spit it back out. "Ugh," he groans after managing to swallow it down, "no offense guys, but this is quite possibly the worst coffee I've ever tasted."

"I would be offended if it wasn't true," Ryan says on a chuckle.

"Seriously," Castle takes another sip for reasons beyond his comprehension, "it tastes like a monkey peed in battery acid."

"And how would you know what battery acid laced with monkey piss tastes like?" Esposito grumbles.

"I uh, I don't," Castle offers, "it just sounded pretty gross in my head, so I went with it."

"How'd you get to be a best-selling author with horrible descriptions like that?" Esposito asks him.

"Well, I'm not an author now," Castle sets down the unwanted coffee, "I did write a novel, years ago, but now I'm a private investigator."

"Not all that good at that job either, are you?" Esposito snaps.

"Hey," Castle holds a hand up briefly, "we're on the same side here. Why are you being so hostile?"

"I don't like murderers." Esposito shrugs.

"I didn't kill Scott Taverner."

"So says you."

"What about Kate," Castle argues, "didn't she back up my story after she talked to me?"

Ryan clears his throat. "We're just trying to do our due diligence here."

"How do you know Beckett, anyway?" Esposito cuts in harshly, "And what's this about an opera? Are you two seeing each other?"

"You used to work with her," Castle begins, "so you know that she's a PI too." He pauses and they both nod. "Well, we met while working on cases that happened to intertwine."

"So you aren't together?" Ryan adds.

"Not yet," Castle smirks, unable to stop the expression from spreading across his face.

"Not ever, I bet," Esposito scowls back. "You aren't her type."

"Look," Ryan says before Castle can respond, "we both care about Beckett a lot, and we're just looking out for her. Don't take any of this personally. She vouched for you, and that's good enough for me."

He turns to Esposito, who sighs loudly, then nods. "It's enough for me too. Her word is all I need."

"Thank you," Castle smiles gratefully, shifting in his chair as he relaxes. "So what was all that then? Good cop, bad cop?" He chuckles at his joke, but his eyes widen when he realizes that was exactly what they'd been doing. "You _were_ playing good cop, bad cop. That's so cool!" he exclaims excitedly.

Ryan and Esposito smile, then look at each other. They nod in silent conversation, and lean in over the table, waving for Castle to do the same.

"Alright, so come on," Esposito whispers, "you really expect us to believe there's not something going on between the two of you? She came rushing up here to help you, no questions asked."

"There's nothing going on," Castle reiterates.

"I don't buy it," Ryan shakes his head, "if you really just met her and it was only work related, how'd you know to call her?"

"Like I said, she used to work with you here at the precinct."

"But how did you know that?" Ryan urges.

"She kept showing up while I was working the case. I researched her, because at the time I didn't know who she was," Castle explains. "So I knew she worked at the 12th, and when you told me your names it clicked that you all used to work together, so I figured she could verify my story for me."

"Come on," Esposito lifts his eyebrows, "give us details."

"There are no details."

"You're no fun," Ryan sighs as he sits back.

"Sorry," Castle shrugs. They sit in silence for a few moments before he speaks again. "Hey, can I ask you two a question?"

"I don't know," Esposito answers, "can you?"

"Funny," Castle squints at him, "but seriously, there's something I couldn't figure out from my research about Kate, and it's been bugging me."

"What's that?" Ryan asks.

"According to all the news articles from right before she was let go from the force, her last case was the one where she shot and killed a suspect who'd supposedly killed his own brother."

"What's your point?" Esposito shakes his head.

"Suspects die sometimes. It wasn't even the first time Kate had taken out a suspect, so what was so different about that case?"

"You'd have to know why she became a cop to understand," Esposito replies solemnly.

"Because of her mother's murder," Castle states matter of factly.

"You know about that?" Ryan sounds genuinely shocked.

"I'm a thorough researcher," Castle explains, "but even so, it seemed like something was missing from the details surrounding that last case. I couldn't find an actual explanation for why she was fired." He pauses to think about what Esposito had said. "Wait, what does her mother's murder have to do with her getting fired?"

The partners glance at each other once more.

"Look," Esposito begins, "you didn't hear this from us, but Dick Coonan, the suspect she killed, was the man who murdered her mother."

"The case was going fairly well," Ryan adds. "but then Beckett, with help from the medical examiner, figured out that Coonan was her mother's killer. To make a long story short, Coonan got wind that she was on to him and there was a standoff. Beckett choose the Captain's life over Coonan's. "

"If it was a provoked shooting, why was she let go?" Castle asks eagerly.

Ryan frowns before he continues. "Internal Affairs declared that Beckett broke the law by working a case with a conflict of interest, and that the shooting was personal and that the whole incident took place only because of her personal vendetta."

"Which is bogus, by the way," Esposito cuts in, "the rat squad officer that investigated the shooting went against Montgomery's report and the eyewitness statements and made the recommendation for firing Beckett pretty much all on her own." He scoffs. "They don't call her Iron Gates for nothing."

Castle mulls over this new information in silence. Suddenly the sadness in Kate's eyes when she asked about the location of Alexis' mother made sense. Her career as a detective had literally began and ended because of her own mother's murder, so hearing that Alexis' mother was absent must have made her think the worst.

"How are you guys doing in here?"

Kate's voice startles Castle, and he looks at her over his shoulder, watches as she walks up and sits in the chair next to him. He swears his heart skips as beat as she brings her eyes to meet his and smiles at him. It isn't until she clears her throat that he realizes he is staring openly at her, and she is still waiting for a response of some sort.

"We're good," he tells her, "we were discussing the horror that is the coffee around here."

She laughs, and Castle immediately wonders if her happier mood stems from being here, in the precinct, the place she used to find justice. He could tell that she thrived on being in the interrogation room, and as much as he'd like it to be, he doubts his company was the reason she enjoyed herself in there. Maybe it was simply getting the chance to interact with her former partners that has her spirits lifted. Whatever it is, he's glad. Happy looks good on her - really good.

"So," she begins, "I've talked more with Captain Montgomery, and I'm all up to speed on the case. I need you to fill us in on anything else that happened last night."

"I already told you what happened," Castle shrugs, "I followed Scott, DeLuca, and Meech to the Taverner's building, fell asleep while waiting around, woke up, and went home when I saw the other car was gone."

"Anything else that happened, no matter how trivial it may seem, could help," Kate prods.

"I beat the new level pack of Angry Birds," Castle offers with a grin.

Kate gives him a look, one that says he needs to get serious. If only it wasn't so fun to goad her, he might actually do just that. But in the short time he's known her, he has already learned that the more worked up she is, for any reason, the hotter she gets. So he's going to pull her pigtails as often as he can - figuratively speaking.

"Okay, forget last night," she sighs, "tell us more about why you followed them in the first place. You said you think they are into something, what was the word you used? Juicy? Care to elaborate?"

"I would if I could," Castle replies, "but I don't know what kind of pie Scott and the two stooges had their fingers in. Whatever they were into though, I'm willing to bet that it's illegal. And whatever it is, I believe it's the reason he's dead."

Kate stands up, focusing her attention on Ryan and Esposito. "We need to pull anything we can get on Scott Taverner and," she turns to Castle, "what are DeLuca and Meech's first names again?"

"Antonio and Louis."

"Thanks. Okay, Ryan, you take Antonio DeLuca, Espo, you take Louis Meech, and I'll get to work on Taverner."

"What should I do?" Castle asks as he stands up next to her.

"Go home," Kate responds, her eyebrows raised as if for emphasis.

"But I can help."

"You agreed not to interfere, Castle. Scout's honor, I remember you saying."

"I was never a scout," he smirks.

"Castle," Kate's tone has a warning edge to it.

It is so sexy.

"Can I at least go get you a cup of coffee," he interrupts before she can say anything more, "some real coffee?

That little forehead crease makes another appearance, so Castle knows she's seriously considering his offer.

"Fine," she finally answers, "but only if you get some for the guys too."

"No problem," he gushes, "I can do that."

A few cups of coffee is a small price to pay to spend more time with her, and to get to be at precinct longer as well. _Which is really cool now that I'm not under suspicion of murder_. He pulls out his little pad of paper from his pocket along with his pen. He clicks the end of it and holds it up above the paper.

"Alright," he smiles widely, "what's everybody having?"


	8. Chapter 7

Kate is poring over Scott's financials when Castle returns with a steaming cup of – _oh wow_ – the good stuff. She wonders where he went to get coffee like this, it tastes so fresh that if she didn't know better, she might've sworn the coffee beans were locally grown. The caffeine ups her energy level, gives her the shakes when coupled with the adrenaline that's already coursing through her veins. Montgomery had sent Ryan and Esposito out to canvas Scott's co-workers and neighbors, and she'd just gotten a call from Espo telling her that he's bringing Regina in for questioning. She's excited, wired.

Since they aren't here to drink them, Castle heads into the break room to put down the boys' coffee, then comes back into the bullpen to settle next to Kate. He leans over her shoulder at Detective Ryan's desk, making her feel instantly uncomfortable.

"What're you doing?" He whispers it, but harshly, and her skin breaks out in prickly goose bumps.

"I'm running over Scott's financials." Just like that, Kate's immersed in her task again, focused. "There seems to be an anomaly, here." She points to the computer screen, "On November 10th, he withdrew a large sum of money – "

"Whoa! I'll say!" Castle seems interested now, zeroing in on the transaction in question. "Who withdraws four hundred thousand dollars at one time?"

"Exactly. It looks like the money was wired into a local account, and amazingly enough, the bank is faxing me the account owner's information right…" She turns to grab the paper as the fax machine dispenses it. "…now."

"Cool! How did you get them to do that for you? I thought you weren't a cop anymore!" Kate turns her head, smirks at him.

"They don't know that." She lilts, leaning in close. Castle's Adam's apple bobs up and down, and she grins and averts her eyes.

"That was _so hot_ just now."

"You like that?"

"Uh, yeah." Kate blushes furiously, and turns her face away to hide her burning cheeks. "So, what do we do next? Head over to uh…" Castle glances down at the fax, and interrupts himself when he sees the name on the paper. "Hey, look who it is!"

Kate reaches for the fax, snatches it up before he can touch it and reads the name of the account owner. Her eyes grow wide in surprise, and she raises an eyebrow at Castle.

"Antonio DeLuca!" Castle shouts, "See, I told you they were into something shady!"

"Very astute observation Castle."

"So, _Detective_. What's our next move?"

Kate looks up at Castle, his eyes are huge and twinkling with delight, and she almost gets carried away in the excitement of the case, but then she realizes what he's asking.

"Nothing Castle." She barks, sobering. "_We_ don't have a next move. This is it for you, I'm going to finish looking over Scott's financials and you're going to go," she pokes his chest, "home." His face falls and he starts to speak, a protest on his lips, but she doesn't have time for his pleading. "Uh-uh, Castle. We had a deal. Go home to your family. But, uh, don't leave town. You're technically still a person of interest, which is why we definitely don't need you meddling around. It's over." She stands up, trying to establish her authority, and sees the moment his face changes. It doesn't exactly look like he's relenting.

"Maybe it doesn't have to be. We could… go home… debrief each other." His eyebrow raise sets her heart in rapid motion.

She gapes at him. _Did he really just proposition me? _He's incredibly handsome, has this… charm about him that's nearly impossible to resist. But, she did just break up with Josh. It's probably too soon. Her emotions are at war with her sensible side, and she fidgets, feeling vulnerable. This is why she needs to end this before it begins.

"It's been fun." She bites her lip, tilts her head up to meet his and feels the vibrations in the deep timbre of his voice as he answers her.

"It's too bad. It would've been great."

Suddenly, she knows exactly how to gain the upper hand, leave him flustered. She steps in close and ghosts her lips over his ear.

"You have no idea." Her voice is barely above a whisper, and she hears his gasp as she backs away, sits back down at the desk and starts scrolling through the rest of Scott's financial history.

She can see Castle in her peripheral vision, and breathes a sigh of relief when he finally starts walking away, adjusting his collar. She turns to watch him press the button for the precinct elevator, and he sticks his hands in his pockets, shoulders slouching.

"Castle?" She calls out to him, and he turns, his face hopeful, "Thanks for the coffee." She says it with genuine appreciation and a hint of awe.

He smiles, waves at her and steps into the elevator. Kate lets out the breath she'd been holding. Back to work.

* * *

"Hey! I remember you!"

Kate winces as she closes the door to the interview room, stepping in behind Esposito. The whiny high-pitched voice of Regina Taverner only grows louder, more shrill.

"You're the bitch that was sleeping with my Scotty!"

"Try again." Kate says, as she sits down in an armchair across from the annoyed lawyer. "I'm a Private Investigator. I was working for him."

Regina shoots Kate an evil eye. "Oh yeah? I'll believe that when pigs fly!"

Kate groans and leans back, putting as much distance as possible between the woman and herself, blinking sharply as she feels the beginnings of a headache come on.

"Hey, let's calm down." Esposito sits next to Regina, lays his hand on her wrist. "We're sorry for your loss, and we know you've been through a lot. But, we have a few questions for you."

Regina deflates then, relaxing her shoulders and making eye contact with him, breathes deep. "Right, sorry. I just wish I knew what was going on. No one's telling me anything."

"Mrs. Taverner, we're going to do everything in our power to find out who killed Scott, but we need your full cooperation on this."

"Of course. Anything you need."

Espo turns to Kate and nods. She opens the folder on the coffee table and pulls out a picture.

"Have you seen this man?" Regina leans forward in her chair, intensely studying the photo of Antonio DeLuca. Finally, she looks up at Kate, shaking her head.

"No, I've never seen that man before. I have no idea who that is." Kate glances at Espo with a knowing look.

"What about this man?" Kate pulls out the other photo that they'd recovered from the DMV database, this one of Louis Meech.

"I've never seen him either." Regina's demeanor changes, her skin prickling in frustration. "I don't see what this has to do with my dead husband!"

"Ma'am, had your husband been acting suspicious lately?" Esposito asks, trying to use his Latin-lover charm to its best advantage. "Staying out late? Moving money around? Taking strange phone calls?"

"Yes, of course he had! I thought he was cheating on me! That's why I hired Rick to investigate. He'd been disappearing on me a lot, saying that it was because of work, but I knew he was lying – I could always tell with that man. He hadn't had any strange phone calls though. I should've thought to snoop through his messages."

"Mrs. Taverner, that's very helpful." Kate interrupts. "We're… in contact with Mr. Castle, and we will do absolutely everything we can to bring your husband's killer to justice. We'll keep in touch."

"Thank you so much." Regina seems to muster up some tears now, using her sleeve to blot at the moisture pooling around her eyes, "Scott was a lousy husband, but he was a good man."

Detective Esposito stands up, shakes Regina's hand and leads her out. Kate follows him and watches until she's out of earshot.

"Well?" Espo asks, "Do you think she's hiding something?" He turns to Kate and grins at her, just like old times.

"Most definitely."

* * *

Now that Regina's interview is over, Kate and the boys head out to pick up DeLuca. The address takes them to a suburb in Queens, and the three of them knock on the door, but find the property very thoroughly vacated. Kate hugs her trenchcoat tighter to shield her against the whipping wind, and helps the boys canvas the premises.

"The trash cans are full, and there's only one paper on the porch, dated today." Ryan says to her, as they meet back up at the front of the property.

"Yeah, we think he's coming back." Espo adds.

Kate sighs, frustrated. She was looking forward to the possibility of making an arrest again.

"Okay. Well, maybe we could wait him out?"

"You mean like a stakeout?"

"Yeah. I don't want us to miss our chance at the guy."

Espo and Ryan look at each other, trying to decide the best course of action, then Espo's phone rings and he answers.

"Detective Esposito. Uh-huh. Okay. Yeah, he's not here. Okay. Got it." He ends the call and turns back to Kate. "The two of us have to scoot. Montgomery thinks he has a current address for Louis Meech. The DMV address was a bust. Sent us to a foreclosure."

"I'll stay and stakeout the place." Kate offers, and the boys nod.

Esposito reaches for his extra service weapon, hands the gun over to her. "Sounds good Beckett. You'll call us?" he says, and Kate nods as they start to make their way back to their vehicles.

"Yeah, Beckett," Ryan adds, "we wouldn't want you to go in after him alone. Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?"

"Of course, guys. It's not like this is my first stakeout. And now I'm armed." She smiles at her boys, appreciating how they're always so protective of her.

The boys nod at her again as they slam the doors to their cruiser. Esposito offers her a sort of salute wave, while Ryan just gives her a big buck-toothed grin. A thrill runs through Kate as she gets back in her car and drives a little further down the street, out of sight.

* * *

It's dark now, and Kate's stomach makes itself known. She had been so caught up in the excitement of getting to work another murder case, she'd barely put anything in her stomach all day, other than coffee. _Mmmm, that coffee_. Kate's seen several people come and go on this street already tonight, but DeLuca's house has been silent and completely dark. She checks her watch. It's been two hours. She knows the boys are probably onto something significant back at the station, and she's wrestling with the urge to cut her losses and leave when the chirping of her cell phone interrupts her thoughts.

_Having fun?_

Her heartbeat picks up as she looks at the unrecognized number. She looks around, hopes she's not being watched, and warily answers the text.

_Who is this?_

The phone vibrates again within seconds.

_It's Rick. Are you having fun?_

Castle. How does he have her number? She's going to kill him. She fires off a text back.

_Not really, how did you get this number?_

_Why aren't you having fun? Wishing you'd taken me up on my offer? P.S. I'll never tell._

Kate's face flushes, and she's glad to be alone, in the dark.

_I'm stuck on a stakeout_ – she starts to send it, but thinks better of that. Somehow, she knows that diverging this information is asking for trouble. She backspaces, and types out a white lie.

_I'm at home. Nothing on TV. In your dreams._

He takes a while to send the next message, and she wonders if he's driving, or if he's… otherwise distracted by some big-busted celebutante.

_In my dreams you're here, not there. (And we definitely aren't watching TV.)_

Kate groans aloud with that one. He's such an ass sometimes – ugh, all the time. She shoves her phone into her pocket and stares straight ahead, focused on DeLuca's house and the area surrounding it. She fidgets in her seat, tries to think about something else – anything else, when suddenly, she sees a sedan driving down the opposite side of the street. She perks up, shifting forward and squinting into the darkness, trying desperately to make out the figure in the car. She can't tell if it's DeLuca yet, but the car is driving very slowly. Finally, the car stops – parks – right in front of DeLuca's house. Front and center, on the opposite side of the street. Kate stares at the man in the driver's seat as he shuffles around at his feet, his hat blocking his face from her view. Finally, he sits up, holding… _binoculars? Oh. No way._

Kate swings open her car door and storms over to the sedan, fuming. Richard. Freaking. Castle. She walks right up to the car and raps on the window. Castle jumps a mile high, before grinning, and then rolling down his window.

"Kate! What are you doing here?"

"Richard Castle! What the hell?! What am _I_ doing here?! I'm investigating a _murder_, Castle! One that you promised not to interfere with – what is _wrong_ with you!?" Kate reaches in through the open window and grabs onto the man-child's ear and he screeches in pain. She immediately lets go of his ear, "Shhh, Castle – this is a stakeout! You're going to blow my cover!"

"Sorry!" he stage whispers, "it's an involuntary reaction to torture!"

"Shut up, you big baby." Kate wants to slap him, this man in the ridiculous fedora. Can she slap him?

"I thought you were at home." He picks up his phone from his lap and waves it by his head, reminding her of the lie she'd texted him.

"I lied, Castle. Because I didn't want you pulling a stunt like this! How did you get this address? More importantly, what were you thinking?"

"I snapped a picture of that fax you got before I left today. I wanted to see if I could follow this DeLuca guy around, now that Scott is dead, and find out more about their secret operation… get some dirt on this guy. It just doesn't make sense."

"Right, Castle. Because you have such a successful history with stakeouts." She rolls her eyes at him, standing back up to her full height. "You have to go. Someone was _murdered_ Castle. We are after a killer, and killers are by fault, dangerous. This isn't one of your games, and it isn't just some cheating spouse case. You have to leave."

"I have a better idea. Kaaate," his voice comes out as a whine, "Let me _help_ you. Keep you company, even. I brought Kung Pao Chicken…" He looks at her questioningly, and suddenly she's aware of the wafting scent of Chinese food and the insistent gnawing in her stomach. She doesn't want to relent, can't give in. She stands still, rationalizing with herself and fighting an internal battle. Her stomach rumbles, loudly, breaking the silence. "Can't have a stakeout on an empty stomach, Beckett."

"Oh, alright, fine!" She mumbles through gritted teeth. She marches around to climb into Castle's passenger seat and he hands her a white box and a pair of chopsticks. She almost moans obscenely when the first bite hits her tongue. She doesn't realize how utterly hungry she is, until the food hits her stomach. Castle watches her eat, dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open and his eyes darting back and forth between her eyes and her mouth.

"Castle, stop staring. It's creepy." He clears his throat, and reluctantly looks away. "You're supposed to be watching DeLuca's house anyway. Don't want to repeat the events of the other night." She raises an eyebrow, and though she means it as an insult, he only grins at her before fixing his eyes on the house.

* * *

"Kate, look!"

Kate is licking her lips after finishing the last of his Kung Pao chicken, and Castle is flailing his arms and pointing.

"Shhh, be still Castle!" He instantly obeys, and she leans over him to see Antonio DeLuca getting out of a car parked in his driveway.

"Should we - ?" Kate silences him with a finger on his lips, and it proves to be an effective distraction. She watches as DeLuca enters the house without turning on any lights, and comes back out within minutes, holding only a suitcase in his hand. _Uh-oh. He looks like he's skipping town._

Castle bursts from the car before Kate can even process what's happening, and runs right toward DeLuca. Panic surges through Kate, and she jumps out of the car after him, afraid for his life. She's on his heels quickly, and they both end up converging on DeLuca, and he startles, drops his suitcase and fumbles for a split second before pulling a gun out of his coat pocket, aiming it right at Castle. _Shit_.

They're both standing at the end of the man's driveway, their hands up, palms facing DeLuca. Kate curses herself for leaving her gun in her car. How could she have been so stupid?

"Whoa, whoa, easy now." Caste tries to diffuse the situation he's gotten them into, but only seems to be making it worse.

"Take another step and I'll shoot! I mean it!" Kate watches as DeLuca's hand shakes. He's scared, which she knows makes him even more unpredictable and dangerous. She takes a deep, stabilizing breath, and speaks.

"There's no need to be scared, Antonio. We're just private investigators. _Not_ cops. We just want to ask you a few questions." Kate speaks softly, tries to convey compassion. "We don't have weapons, so why don't you just put the gun away, and we can all forget this ever happened?" Kate can see DeLuca's face clearly in the light of the streetlamps. He seems to be weighing his options. Finally, he lowers his arm, sets the gun down in his car.

Kate and Castle breathe a sigh of relief. Both high on adrenaline, he turns, gives her a timid smile. He stares at her with, 'I'm glad we're still alive,' etched in his eyes, and she tries to convey the same message back to him. Antonio slouches and closes the car door, putting distance between the three of them and the gun. Relieved by his cooperation, Kate steps closer, with Castle right behind her, breathing down her neck. Without warning, he whispers in her ear.

"I'd say the bedroom voice is very effective."


	9. Chapter 8

"Look," DeLuca sighs out, his voice weary, "I'm sorry I pulled the gun. A guy can't be too careful when a couple of folks start rushing him, especially in the dark."

"It's water under the bridge, Mr. Deluca," Kate lifts her right hand, "My name is Kate Beckett, and I believe you already know Richard Castle."

DeLuca shakes her hand and nods at Castle over her shoulder. He squints for a moment, then realization washes across his face. "You two were together at the opera house the other night."

Kate drops her hand back to her side. "Well we weren't actually to-"

"That's right," Castle interrupts her as he steps up beside her to shake Deluca's hand as well, "and I talked briefly with yourself and Louis Meech before the show began."

"I remember," DeLuca replies, "look, I don't mean to be rude, but I really need to get going."

"Where exactly are you headed?" Castle asks.

"Out of town."

"Mr. DeLuca," Kate takes a small step towards him, "we really need to ask you some questions."

"You said you weren't cops."

"We aren't," Castle assures him, "but we are helping the police investigate Scott Taverner's murder, and I know you were with him last night."

"I had nothing to do with his death," DeLuca's tone changes to angry and defensive, and Castle wonders if he went too far with his last statement.

"We aren't making any accusations," Kate pauses and shoots Castle a look, "but you and Mr. Meech may have been the last people to see him alive, and we just want to know if you saw or heard anything, or if you know who might have killed him."

DeLuca fidgets, kicking his toes against the ground over and over. Castle's desire to find answers quickly drowns out his brain telling him to wait patiently for DeLuca to respond.

"Maybe if you don't have anything to say about last night," he crosses his arms, "perhaps you can tell us about the four hundred thousand dollars Scott wired into your account on November 10th?" He ignores the glare that Kate sends his way.

Deluca's eyes spread open wide, and his chin drops, but he recovers just as quickly. "It's not safe out here," he turns and heads back for the front door of his house, "come inside and we'll talk."

Castle turns to grin triumphantly at Kate, even though he's a little surprised himself that his point of attack had worked. Her expression tells him that she is not happy that he keeps taking the lead, but there's also an unmistakable glimmer of excitement in her eyes. She starts off after DeLuca and Castle enjoys the view for a moment before he adjusts his fedora, which had shifted during his sprint across the street, then follows them.

They climb the handful of stairs and cross the shallow porch. The floorboards creak with every step, giving away that the house is far from new. It's a two story building, which seems like a lot of space for one man, so Castle wonders if there is a Mrs. DeLuca and any baby Fabio look-alikes. The suitcase he'd carried out was definitely only big enough to fit provisions for one person though, so if DeLuca has any family, they must have already left town. Or perhaps they weren't going to be leaving town with him at all. Maybe he was pulling a 'take the money and run', using his newly acquired small fortune to get away from the family life. Castle goes through the door after Kate, and DeLuca brings up the rear, closing the door behind him. As soon as Castle starts looking around, he knows that the man is single. The dining room is actually completely empty, and when DeLuca leads them into the living room, there is only a small couch, a reclining armchair, a bare coffee table and a floor lamp off to the side of the chair.

"Um," DeLuca mutters, "we can sit in here. I'm not home a lot, so I don't have much furniture."

"This is fine," Kate responds as she unbuttons her trenchcoat and sits on the couch.

Castle takes the cushion next to her, and Deluca sits in the chair so he is facing the both of them.

"So," DeLuca begins, "what exactly is it that you want to know?"

Kate folds her hands together on her lap, as if bringing her focus inward. "Why Scott Taverner paid you all that money."

"He was paying Meech and myself."

"What for?" Castle prods.

"Protection."

"Protection?" Kate echoes.

"Yeah," DeLuca nods, "we're sort of like, bodyguards for hire."

"That's a lot of money for bodyguards," Castle lifts his eyebrows.

DeLuca shrugs. "People will pay an awful lot when they fear for their life," he drops his head before continuing, "although we didn't do a very good job, seeing as how he's dead and all," he looks back up. "We thought we could protect him. Before this we had a perfect record, Meech and I, but we had no idea what we were up against."

"What exactly were you up against," Kate leans forward slightly, "and why did Scott fear for his life?"

"Taverner thought he found an opportunity to make some money on the side," DeLuca opens his eyes wide, "a lot of money. But he grossly overestimated the amount of control he would have over the situation. Let's just say that he made some powerful people very angry and they killed him, and they'll kill anyone they think was in on it. That's why I have to get out of town, at least for a while. The only way to hide from them is to run, and even then, I won't be able to stop looking over my shoulder for quite some time."

"What was he into?" Castle feels excitement swelling inside him.

DeLuca sets his mouth into a firm line and shakes his head.

"If you talk to us," Kate urges, "we can provide you with police protection. I used to work for the NYPD, so that's a promise I can keep."

"The police can't keep me safe," DeLuca shakes his head again.

"Help us help you," Kate presses him for more, "give us something to go on. How was Scott trying to make the money? Who killed him?"

DeLuca fixes his gaze on Castle and then flicks his eyes back at Kate. The internal struggle he's having is spread all over his face. He opens his mouth and sits a little further back in his chair, but before he can speak, all hell breaks loose. Glass from the window across the room shatters, filling the air with loud tinkling. DeLuca grunts, slumps forward, and then his limp body slides down to the floor. Castle stands, but a firm grip on his hand pulls him painfully to his knees in front of the couch.

"Stay down," Kate hisses, "that was a gunshot."

She flips the coffee table up on its side as a makeshift barricade, and pulls her phone from her pocket. Castle's breath suddenly catches in his throat. In what feels like slow motion, he reaches out and moves one flap of her coat to the side, and begins feeling for the source of the red stain on her shirt. He's brushing his hand over her ribs when she looks at him, her eyes wild with what looks like a mixture of fear and adrenaline.

"What are you doing?"

"You're bleeding," Castle answers.

"That's not my blood, Castle," Kate assures him, "I'm not hit."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she nods curtly, "are you hit?"

"No."

"Good. Check DeLuca for a pulse."

Castle is reluctant to leave her side, but he does as she instructs. She turns her attention to someone on the other end of the phone call, and as Castle crawls in front of her towards DeLuca he hears her say something about backup and a bus. His fingers find a home on the unconscious man's neck, and he feels nothing. He forces himself to take a deep breath and concentrate, and then he closes his eyes and leans down to put his cheek over DeLuca's mouth. After seconds that pass like an eternity, a faint beat throbs against his fingers.

"He's alive," Castle glances up at Kate, "but he's not breathing."

Kate finishes her call and pockets the phone, then takes a quick look at the broken window before she moves over next to Castle. "You put pressure on his wound," she points to the center of the widening blood stain on DeLuca's sweatshirt, "The paramedics are about fifteen minutes out. We're going to have to keep him alive until then.

She leans down and tilts DeLuca's head back slightly and starts breathing into his mouth. Castle quickly removes his coat and starts to unbutton his dress shirt, but it's too slow. He rips the two sides apart, sending some of the buttons flying, then pulls it free of his arms as he shifts slightly so he is hovering over DeLuca's chest. He wads up his shirt and presses it tightly to the entry wound. Every time Kate sends another burst of oxygen into DeLuca's lungs, Castle can feel a slight push up against his makeshift compress.

"What if there's an exit wound too?" Castle asks Kate after the longest three minutes of his life.

"The floor should hopefully be applying enough pressure to it if there is one," she quickly replies between breaths.

"Here, why don't we switch," Castle suggests, "you try to do that for fifteen minutes straight and you could pass out."

Kate acts as if she is going to ignore his idea, but then she looks up at him. "You know the proper technique?"

"I have a daughter, so yeah, I know CPR."

"Okay," she gives DeLuca another breath, "let me get my hands on him first, then you move around behind me."

Castle nods in understanding, and as soon as Kate has a good grip on the shirt turned bandage, he takes the spot she'd been in and starts breathing for DeLuca. Every couple of minutes they trade, wordlessly working together to keep him alive. Each time they change they check his pulse again, and thankfully it is still there, though barely. If they had to start doing chest compressions they'd only exacerbate the bleeding. It seems like days have passed when loud voices and heavy footsteps burst into the room. Castle looks up and sighs with relief. The cavalry has arrived. He and Kate both stand up and back away, letting the EMTs take over, and when Montgomery walks into the room, Kate heads towards him, so Castle follows.

"What in the hell happened here?" Montgomery demands. "Are you two all right?"

"We're fine, Captain," Kate tells him, "DeLuca was shot through the window."

"Did you see the shooter?"

"No sir," Kate shakes her head, "look, you can debrief us later. Right now you need to get in touch with Ryan and Esposito. We have to get Louis Meech into protective custody."

"Why?" Montgomery asks, but he's already reaching for his phone.

"Because," Kate explains, "I'm almost positive that whoever killed Scott Taverner is behind this shooting, and I have reason to believe Meech will be targeted too."

Montgomery nods and steps away to make the call. Kate lets out a heavy sigh and turns to Castle. He drops his eyes to her bloody shirt.

"Are you sure you're okay, Kate?" He points to the now darker blotch.

"I'm fine, Castle," she smiles weakly, "and you?"

"I'm good," he grins, "hell of a first date, huh?"

"What?" Kate's face scrunches up.

"Well, technically it was our second date, if you count the Opera. Third if you count when I brought you the coffee and bear-claw."

"Castle, we haven't been on any dates."

"Oh come on. Tonight definitely counts, even if you want to ignore the first two," he pauses as she crosses her arms and cocks her head to one side, "I paid for your dinner and now I'm in my underwear. That's a date, if you ask me."

"First of all, I didn't ask you," Kate replies, "secondly, you bought that food for yourself, I just ate the leftovers, and thirdly, I don't think a tee-shirt counts as underwear."

"It's an undershirt, not a tee-shirt."

Kate rolls her eyes and starts to walk off, but not before Castle sees the tiniest hint of a smile nudge the corners of her mouth upwards. He chuckles to himself as he goes to get his discarded coat. He'd wanted to lighten the mood with the date talk, and it seemed to have worked. He pulls his coat on and bends over to pick up his fedora, which had fallen off sometime during the fray. He puts it back on his head and turns to see where Kate is. He sees her across the room, about to round the corner into the front hall. She looks over her shoulder and smiles.

"You coming, Castle?"

* * *

Castle closes his eyes, letting the lids block out the harsh fluorescent lights. He and Kate had finished giving Montgomery their official statements about thirty minutes ago. The captain had left and now Castle and Kate are waiting to hear the results of DeLuca's surgery.

"Getting tired over there?"

Castle opens one eye and smiles at Kate. "Nope," he opens his other eye and sits up straighter. "So, what do you think Scott was into?"

"I really don't know," Kate shrugs, "but we need to find out."

"Hopefully Meech will talk."

Ryan and Esposito had found Meech off of the lead from Montgomery and taken him into the precinct.

"That'd be nice," Kate sighs.

"Maybe it's a mob thing. Or maybe Scott was actually working with the CIA. Or maybe he-"

"Maybe we should wait for evidence and avoid speculation," Kate interrupts.

Castle sticks his bottom lip out. "But speculation is more fun."

She chuckles and is about to respond when someone calls out her name. She turns towards the sound and Castle sees her body stiffen.

"Kate," the man in light blue scrubs repeats, "why are you here? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, Josh," she stands as he walks up to her, "I'm here for work."

Josh glances at Castle before stepping even closer to Kate. When he speaks again, it's in a whisper. "Listen, I've been wanting to call, but work has been crazy. I was wondering if we could talk."

Castle jerks his eyes back and forth between the pair. The stranger named Josh has hope all over his face, but Kate's is filled with trepidation. It doesn't take a private investigator to see what is going on here, so Castle stands and walks down the hall to a small room with several vending machines. As luck would have it one of the machines dispenses coffee, so he buys two cups. It takes a few minutes to prepare both beverages, and when he is done, he peers around the open doorway to see if it's safe to return to the waiting area. Kate is sitting alone, her head in her hands, and Castle walks up to her slowly. She looks up at him and he holds out one of the coffees.

"Thanks," she takes it from him and sips at it tentatively.

Castle takes the seat next to her and drinks his own coffee, burning his tongue with a too big gulp. He swallows both the scalding liquid and his desire to ask Kate if she is okay. The silence between them is deafening, but thankfully it doesn't last long because DeLuca's surgeon comes looking for them.

"You're the officers waiting for Antonio DeLuca, correct?"

"Yes," Kate replies simply as she stands, "I'm Kate Beckett and this is Richard Castle."

Castle gets up and comes to her side, then extends his right hand to the doctor.

"I'm Dr. Haynesfield," he introduces himself as he shakes Castle's hand and then Kate's. "Mr. DeLuca pulled through and he'll survive, but the bullet ruptured a lung and then lodged in his spine. We repaired the collapsed lung, however he'll be on a breathing tube for a while, so you'll have to wait to talk to him. The spinal injury was severe enough that he will probably never walk again, and until he wakes up we can't even be sure if he'll have any mobility in his arms either." He shakes his head and sighs wearily. "He's lucky to be alive."

"Is he in a private room?" Kate asks.

"No, he's in recovery right now."

"Okay. We have a couple of officers waiting outside. We are going to post them outside of whatever room he's in. Where he goes, they'll go. I'll send them in as I leave."

"Tell them to check at the nurses station, and someone will take them to him."

"Okay, thank you, Dr. Haynesfield."

He nods and heads back in the direction he'd come from.

"That's rough," Castle says.

Kate turns to him. "What is?"

"DeLuca being paralyzed."

"Oh, yeah. It is," she glances down at her oversized watch and frowns. "It's getting late, and I need to be back at the precinct at seven in the morning. Let's get out of here. It's late."

"Your place, or mine?" Castle smirks.

That earns him a fierce glare. "I'm going to my place, and other than there, I don't care where you go."

He debates pushing her buttons a little more, but decides to hold back. "So, see you in the morning then?"

"Oh no, Castle," she lifts an eyebrow, "you will not be joining me at the precinct. You're supposed to be steering clear of the investigation, remember?"

"Come on, Kate," he's whining and isn't even a little ashamed, "I've been helpful, haven't I?"

"It's not a matter of if you can help or not. You aren't a cop, you've never been a cop, and technically you're still a person of interest in the case. You just can't be a part of this investigation."

Castle starts to protest again, but changes his mind. "Alright," he holds up his empty hand as if surrendering, "will you at least agree to let me know if anything comes up I can help with?"

"I'll agree to consider it."

"Deal."

Kate squints at him suspiciously, but then turns to head for the exit. Once he is sure she can't see his face, Castle grins mischievously and follows her out.

* * *

It's nearing 11:00 when Castle slips his key into the lock, so he opens and closes the door slowly so as to avoid any excess noise. Now that he's home, he suddenly feels exhausted. He immediately heads for the decanter of scotch on the table by the stairs. While he is pouring, a familiar voice rings out.

"Tough day, Kiddo?"

He turns and smiles at his mother, who is sitting on the couch. "Just busy," he puts the bottle down and replaces the stopper, then takes a sip of his drink.

"Alexis told me that you were arrested this morning."

"Oh, that was just a misunderstanding," he explains as he crosses the room and sits down beside her.

"Well," she holds up her glass of wine and he taps his own glass to it, "here's to not having to bail you out."

Castle chuckles, and they both sip at their drinks in silence for a few moments.

"What are you up to this evening?" he asks her.

"I just got in from a life coaching session a little while ago."

"Just got in? I thought you were taking over my study to do that."

"Well, I made a house call for this one," Martha smiles, "let's just say that after our session there was dinner and dancing. Both vertical and horizontal."

Castle's face skews in disgust. "I really didn't need to hear that, Mother."

"You asked, Richard."

He shakes his head. "Next time, lie, would you?" Martha laughs and Castle leans over to kiss her cheek. "Goodnight, Mother."

"Off to bed so soon?"

He stands up and nods. "I've got to be somewhere early in the morning for work."

"Okay then, goodnight."

Castle heads toward his room. Although he generally regards seven in the morning to be an unholy hour, he plans to be at the precinct. He's not quite sure yet how he'll convince Kate to let him stay, but he knows he'll think of something.


	10. Chapter 9

The boys have set up a murder board. A frisson of excitement dances up Kate's spine at the sight of it. She's come back to the precinct after the events of the night, since she knows she'll never get any sleep back at home; her mind is buzzing, too kinetic. She stands in front of the board and stares at the photographs dangling against the stark white. Detective Ryan gives her a nod, breaking her concentration, and reaches out and takes down Richard Castle's picture. He shrugs at her.

"He's not a suspect anymore. He was with you when DeLuca was shot." Kate nods, she knows Castle is innocent – has known it, but she didn't expect the author to charm her boys at the 12th quite that easily. "You can go home, you know. As a consultant, you don't have to stay."

"I know. But I'm staying." She answers quickly, nearly interrupting the Irish detective. "If you're still investigating, so am I." The detective smiles at her now, feeling nostalgic, and Esposito rounds the corner, approaches the two of them with a determined gait.

"Yo, guys. Meech is in the box ready to go. Beckett, do you wanna go in on this one?" Kate smiles at him, nods, unable to hide the excitement on her face.

Ryan and Beckett take the lead on the interrogation, falling in step behind each other like old times. Espo and the Captain are watching from the observation room. Meech is sitting in the cold metal chair, clearly agitated, until he looks up and his eyes bulge at the sight of Kate.

"Hey, weren'tcha at the opera the other night? You a cop?" His accent is heavy, Yonkers, probably.

"I'll ask the questions, Louis." Kate and Ryan both sit across from the man and assume an easy posture. Kate opens the folder and pulls out Scott Taverner's picture. "I saw you at the opera too – with this man." She places the photo in front of Meech and his eyes dart over it, studying.

"Yeah, that's Scott. Me and this guy DeLuca had been watchin' over him, ya know? Until he went and got himself knocked off." His eyes darted back and forth between Ryan and Beckett, "But I sure as _hell_ ain't got nothin' to do with his death!"

"Hey, we believe you, Meech. But we think you might have some info for us - something that can help us nail this guy." Kate recognizes Ryan's tactic – smooth-talking – establishing himself as "good cop." Beckett raises an eyebrow in his direction. _So that's how we're going to do this then_. "And not just for Scott – for your buddy DeLuca, too."

"Wait." Meech's face turns wild, full of panic. "What about DeLuca? He okay?" The short man stands on his feet in surprise, but still doesn't gain much in height.

Ryan looks pleadingly over at Beckett, realizes that he's revealed too much. "Whoa, easy now."

"Tell me what happened to Antonio!" Meech's voice raises, he leans over the table and shakes his fist at Ryan, who is now on his feet as well. He places his hands on the man's shoulders and forces him back down into the chair.

"He was shot just a few hours ago, messed him up bad, but he's alive." Ryan sits back down, and his shoulders slump with the admission. Kate sighs, realizing that the blue-eyed detective may have ruined their chances of getting Meech to talk. Sure enough, Meech clams up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You kiddin' me?" Meech's eyes are full of genuine fear, his hands stretch out in front of him defensively. "I ain't sayin' anything to you guys." He brings his arms to his chest, wringing his hands fitfully, and Beckett finally chimes in, attempting to salvage the situation.

"Louis, we can get you protection. We can make sure you're safe."

"Look, there ain't nobody can keep me safe from this guy." Louis leans in close, whispering, "He's unpredictable. Unstoppable. Lock me up, 'cause there's no way I'm gonna make it another day out on the street." Kate and Ryan exchange glances. "And I want a lawyer."

That's it, then. Ryan and Beckett hear loud knocking on the one-way glass. The interrogation is over.

* * *

Beckett can see a glimmer of light beaming through one of the high windows in the bullpen. _Morning, already?_ She tilts her head back and forth, stretching her neck and assessing her exhaustion. The boys are rearranging the murder-board, adding DeLuca's shooting to the timeline, trying to gain some perspective while waiting for Meech's lawyer to show.

Kate stands, stretches.

"Hey boys, I'm going to brew up some liquid energy. Want some?" The boys acknowledge her without looking up, grunting noises of approval.

She checks her phone while the coffee brews and sees two missed calls – both from Josh. One voicemail. She sighs heavily, and holds the phone to her ear.

"Hey Kate. It's Josh. I know it's late, but I just got off my shift and I wanted to call you before I got home and crashed. I really want to talk to you after seeing you in the hospital tonight. Hope you're okay. Call me back."

She's not calling him back, has no interest in hearing his pleas and questions. They just never worked well together – all they had was the sex; they were never on the same page. Kate deletes the voicemail and pockets her phone, runs her fingers over her face, closes her eyes.

"You know, you really should just accidentally 'break' that coffee machine. Stuff tastes like rat puke." Kate opens her eyes and snaps her head towards the door. Richard Castle is standing at the threshold, wearing a thousand watt grin and offering her a cup of something that smells _heavenly_. "I brought you something decent, figured you'd be here still. Looks like I was right." Kate glances down at herself, notes the wrinkled clothes she'd had on the day before. Castle, however, looks rested and clean-shaven and _mmmmmm_. She shakes her head to rid herself of the images currently swimming through her mind of their own volition – images that involve the man in front of her in fewer items of clothing. A _lot_ fewer. She allows the coffee to distract her and takes a sip, nearly moaning aloud. He always brings her the best coffee. _Where does he get it?_

Castle's still staring at her with that maddening glint in his eye, his pupils are darkening and – _wait, she hadn't moaned aloud, had she? _With the way he is looking at her, feral and intrigued, she can't be entirely sure.

"So, how far are we on the case? I was glad to see I'd been demoted from my position on the murder board."

"Yeah, you've been cleared Castle. Congratulations." He steps closer to her, and for a moment she's afraid he's about to kiss her, something in his eyes, but then he reaches past her, behind her and turns off the coffee maker. He must see the question in her eyes, because he quickly clarifies, "I brought some for the boys too."

"Oh." _Really, Kate? That's all you can say?_

"So, I was thinking," He draws out the last syllable, letting it hum on his tongue. "Now that I'm not a person of interest anymore, I'm free to consult with the department on this case as well." He wags his eyebrows at her, and she feels her breath hitch, tries to shake off any evidence on her face of how flustered she truly is by him.

"No, Castle. Not going to happen."

"Oh, come on, Kate. I'm a PI too – I have training, I know self-defense." He pulls his fists up near his face as if to illustrate his point. Kate darts around him, stepping back into the bullpen and making her way back to Ryan's desk. The boys are in the Captain's office, discussing something, and she lays her coffee down and turns back to face Castle.

"Mr. Castle – "

"Call me Rick."

"Castle. Just because you're a PI doesn't give you right to stick your foot in something you have no business meddling with. And your… behavior over the last few days has been far from exemplary." Kate feels a blush creeping up her neck; she suddenly feels like a mother scolding her wayward child.

"These have been extenuating circumstances. In the past, I'll have you know, I've been a very successful investigator."

Kate nods, a smile threatening to creep past her lips. She shakes her head and leans in close, her voice soft, but authoritative.

"Until I see firsthand this 'success' you claim to possess, you," she pokes her index finger into his chest, "can go take a long walk off a short pier."

"Just you wait, Beckett. Just you wait." His face is still aglow, and she points behind him to the precinct elevator in a _go away_ gesture, then turns and sits at Ryan's desk. She feels him leave, her body attuned to the vacant space left by his, and she can't resist turning around, just in time to see him in the elevator. His back is against the wall, the look on his face akin to that of a wounded puppy. Kate feels a pang in her gut, a sinking regret.

* * *

Two hours later, Kate is still thinking about Castle. _Damn, that man_. She considers calling him, apologizing for treating him like a child, but she's just too tired, too stubborn. Her phone buzzes, it's Josh again, and she declines the call almost immediately. She's too exhausted for him too.

"Hey, Beckett!" Kate turns to see the boys bounding toward her, Ryan holding a piece of paper, waving it above his head. "We finally got the search warrant for Scott's apartment." Kate stands and throws on her coat, feels her energy returning with the excitement of finally having something to go on. Ryan throws her the keys to his cruiser and she looks at him questioningly.

"I remember how much you like to drive."

"Damn straight," is her smiling reply.

* * *

When Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito arrive at the Taverner's apartment, they walk in on Regina apparently entertaining a few 'guests'. After opening the door for them and a passel of uniforms, Regina returns to the two gruff men in heavy jackets that sit around her kitchen table, drinking coffee.

"Sorry, fellas. The police are here. They want to search the place." She tells the men, but neither of them budges. Regina bursts into theatrical tears, and Beckett cuts her eyes to Esposito, who steps forward and puts a hand on the woman's shoulder in feigned comfort, shooting the other two detectives a harsh _you owe m_e look. Ryan and Beckett slip down the hall.

"I'll start in the bedroom, you take the bathroom." Kate nods at the order, finds her way to the bathroom and begins with the medicine cabinet.

"Who do you supposed those two super suspicious-looking guys were?" Ryan's voice from the other room is muffled, and she guesses he must be in a closet or under the king bed.

"Don't know - are you thinking they could have something to do with what was Scott Taverner was into?" She closes the medicine cabinet, finding nothing of consequence, although she was interested to see some anti-depressants prescribed to Regina within the past month.

"That's exactly what I'm thinkin', Beckett." Ryan's voice is closer and clearer now; Kate starts looking under the sink. Hm. Q-tips, toilet cleaner, an unopened box of condoms. She rummages through the trash, finds it mostly empty, save for a few tissues. She turns to leave the bathroom and nearly bumps into her former colleague.

"Nothing in the bedroom, Beckett."

"Yeah, not much in here either."

When the two detectives emerge from the hallway, Esposito still has Regina distracted. She's sobbing dramatically on the sofa, Espo sitting next to her and watching. He looks up at them and jerks his head toward the kitchen where the two brusque men are standing, speaking to each other in hushed tones. Beckett and Ryan take the cue to talk to them. Kate notices that Ryan is letting her saunter up to them first, no doubt hoping she can use her feminine charm to encourage their cooperation. She has never doubted her ability to play up her feminine wiles. She approaches them both, smiling widely, and addresses the younger one first.

He looks to be about 28, his dusty blonde hair and freckled face casting him as a bit of a newbie, and whatever they're doing, he seems to be a follower, looking to the older man to call the shots.

"Hello, I'm Kate Beckett, and this is Kevin Ryan. We're detectives." _Well, I was, once_. "I was wondering if we could ask you a few questions about the murder of Scott Taverner." The younger man smiles at her, dimples appearing on his cheeks, making him look ten years younger. The older man huffs, obviously too hardened to eek out a smile before speaking.

"We'd like to ask the same of you, if you don't mind. Maybe we can establish a sort of symbiotic relationship here. Victor Freidman." He holds out his hand and Kate takes it, shaking firmly. "Nick and I are Insurance Fraud Investigators for Fortress Life." Kate raises an eyebrow, interested now.

Ryan chimes in, extending his hand to the older gentleman. "I think we can work out an arrangement. Will you follow us into the dining room?"

The two men oblige, leading the way through the kitchen, until all four are in the dining room and away from Regina's earshot. Kate closes the door behind them, and turns back to face them. Victor speaks up first.

"Regina and Scott Taverner took out a sizeable life insurance policy on Scott less than two months ago. Because of this, coupled with a sudden death – "

"No medical records indicating the deceased was critically ill – " Nick interjects.

"Yeah, we're homicide investigators, we know the term." Ryan adds with a reassuring grin, but Nick flushes, embarrassed.

"We have reason to believe Scott's death to be suspicious." Victor finishes. The man reminds Kate of her father, back when he had just started drinking, hardened by the death of her mother. She wonders what might've happened to Victor, finds her heart aching for the man. "Obviously, a murder is _not_ covered unless it can be proven to be an outside job."

"And you suspect Regina?" Kate asks.

"Unless you have evidence clearing her, 'fraid so." Nick replies, shrugging his shoulders and poking his hands in his coat pockets.

"We hadn't looked at Regina as a serious suspect – until now. How much is the insurance payout?" Ryan asks, clearing his throat.

"$2.4 million." Nick answers; Ryan nearly chokes.

"Holy shit." Ryan mutters under his breath, before directing his next statement at Nick. "_That_ is what we at the 12th call a motive.'"

The two Fortress Life investigators leave the scene after exchanging numbers with the detectives. Ryan and Beckett search the kitchen, but find nothing of interest there – or anywhere else in the apartment. Finally, Esposito stands, bringing a still sobbing Regina with him and Ryan gives him an apologetic look before addressing the woman.

"Regina, it looks like you're going to have to come downtown for more questioning." She shakes her head, unable to form coherent words through her sobs, and Ryan lets her grab her purse before he leads her out the front door to his police cruiser.

"I cannot believe you left me on boohoo duty." Espo barks at Kate, but she recognizes it as more playful than spiteful.

"Oh, admit it Espo. You're nothing but a big softie."

Espo narrows his eyes at her, but Kate's already disappeared down the hall.


	11. Chapter 10

Castle sighs loudly as he steps through the front door of the building that houses the 12th precinct. He'd hoped that showing up with three cups of coffee and a smile would be enough to win Kate over. He'd been wrong. He shoves his hands in his coat and looks up and down the sidewalk. It's full of people, as is the norm anytime in New York, but especially so in the mornings. He falls into step with the crowd and heads towards his car. He reaches it a few minutes later, unlocks and opens the door, then slides inside. He locks the door back after closing it, puts his key in the ignition but doesn't start the car, then leans his head back on the seat and closes his eyes.

When he'd stepped off the elevator and seen Kate, it had actually surprised him to see her in the same clothes as the night before. He'd expected to see her there since it was a little after seven, but when he realized she hadn't even gone home to change he thought maybe they'd gotten a break in the case. Since she had actually told him he wasn't to join her today, he used her overnight stay to his advantage and played off his visit as if he'd known she still be there. If the moan that had slipped out of her lips was an indication, she was grateful for the coffee, but she'd made it obvious she had no other use for him. He wants so badly to be a part of the case, and he knows he can help. What he doesn't know is how to convince Kate.

Oh, that moan. From the look on her face she hadn't meant for it to be out loud. But it had been sexy. Every thing she does is sexy. He's flat out enamored with her, yet he barely knows her. And since she keeps kicking him to the curb, he doesn't think he'll be getting to know her any better. A sudden knock on the front passenger window interrupts his thoughts. He looks over and smiles, then immediately presses the unlock button on his door. Kate flashes a smile of her own as she opens the door and slides inside the car.

"Hey," she says as she shuts the door behind her.

"Hey," Castle replies, trying to hide his mixture of excitement and confusion.

"I'm glad I caught you," she licks her lips, igniting the blood pounding through Castle's veins. "I wanted to apologize for not letting you help with the case."

"I understand," he shrugs, "it's okay."

"No, it's not okay."

"Well, apology accepted then."

"Oh, that wasn't my apology. This," she grins and starts leaning in towards him, "is my apology."

Castle swallows hard in surprise, but he doesn't hesitate to start leaning in towards her as well. He can't help but smile, and he closes his eyes as they draw closer –

_Tap, tap, tap! _"Hey, pal, you can't sleep here."

Castle jerks awake and looks towards the passenger window, where the noise is coming from. A uniformed officer is glaring back at him. She's young, in her early twenties most likely, and her blond hair is tied up in a tight bun. Castle turns his key enough for power, then rolls the window down.

"I'm sorry, Officer," he pauses and quickly reads her nametag, "Hastings. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

She squints at him and studies him for a while before responding. "I'll let you off with a warning, sir, but if it happens again, I'll have to write you a ticket."

"Thank you," he smiles gratefully, "I'm going to leave right now."

Hastings nods and turns around, then begins making her way down the sidewalk. Castle breathes out a sigh of relief, then looks at his watch. His eyes grow wide when he realizes it's been over an hour since he got into his car. And of course, he would get woken up just as the dream was getting good. He sighs, unsure of what to do with himself. He has no leads to follow to work the murder alone, and he no longer has a target to investigate – unless Regina wants him to keep looking for evidence of an affair, which he highly doubts.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket and opens his contact list. He scrolls down to Regina's name and is about to hit the call button when he changes his mind and texts her. She can be rather talkative when she wants to be, and he just wants to know if he can stop by. He types out a quick message, asking if he can come see her at the office. She replies moments later saying that she's at home, but it's fine for him to come over because she'd appreciate the company. _Maybe this isn't the best idea I've ever had_. He glances back at the precinct. _Well, I don't have anything better to do_. He starts the car, buckles his seat belt, and makes his way into traffic. _Here goes nothing_.

* * *

Castle parks at the end of the block and makes his way inside Regina's building. The elevator ride is quick and silent, and he's soon standing outside her door. He bypasses the bell and knocks on the dark wood. Less than ten seconds pass before the door swings open and Regina is waving him in.

"Rick, it's so good to see you," she gushes as she closes the door and steps around him. "Would you like some coffee?"

"That'd be nice, thank you."

"Lets go to the kitchen then. I've just brewed a pot."

Castle follows her down the hall, taking in the decor. He'd been here once before, but the lavishness still amazes him. Giant paintings hang on nearly every wall, and the furniture is oversized and looks uncomfortable, like each piece is more about status that functionality. The kitchen is no exception, and Castle is fairly certain that the refrigerator and coffee machine are the only appliances that ever get used.

"Make yourself comfortable at the table," Regina points aimlessly at the small table near a window, "how do you take your coffee?"

"A touch of sugar and some milk or cream or whatever you have will be fine, please."

"It's wonderful having a man in the house again," Regina says as she busies herself making their coffees. "Sure, Scott and I were hardly ever home at the same time, but it just feels so empty here by myself."

"I'm truly sorry for your loss, Regina."

She walks over and hands him a dark red mug, then takes the seat next to him. "Thank you," she sniffles and sets her own mug down. "We had our differences, but Scott was a good man and didn't deserve to be murdered," she takes a sip of her coffee. "The police said that they were talking to you about his murder. Why?"

"Since I was following him they saw me on a security camera parked outside his building. They just wanted to know why I was there."

"Tell me this, Rick. Why did Scott hire a private investigator?"

Castle almost spits out the coffee in his mouth, but manages to swallow it down. "What are you talking about?"

"The woman you said you thought was sleeping with him, the one you showed me a picture in the coffee shop the other morning, she interviewed me at the station. I told her I knew of the affair and she said she was a private investigator who was working for Scott. She was the one who told my they were talking with you about the case."

"I don't know why he hired her," Castle lies, suddenly grateful for his mother's acting lessons. "But it explains why I saw her coming out if his building." She seems to accept that, thankfully, so he changes the subject slightly before she can say more. "That actually brings me to why I wanted to come see you," he pauses. _Damn it. How am I supposed to say this without sounding like an ass?_

"You want me to pay you since Scott is dead and you can't follow him around anymore?"

"That's not quite what I had in mind. I just wanted to know if here was anything else I could do for you, and if not, then I'll put together all my findings for you and bring them by in a few days," he smiles gently. "If you still want them, that is. As you know, I didn't find any actual evidence."

"Don't worry about it," Regina waves a hand in the air. "No use sullying the dead. Just send me a bill and I'll send you a check."

Before Castle can reply, the doorbell rings out.

"I didn't know you had plans," he starts to stand, "I'll be on my way. Sorry to keep you."

"No, I'm not expecting anyone. I don't know who that is. Let me see. I'll be right back."

Castle reluctantly sits back down. He takes a couple sips of his coffee, and then hears a male voice. He turns towards the entryway and sees Regina leading two men into the apartment. One is a good deal older than the other, with salt and pepper hair and stern blue eyes. The younger man has freckles galore and his hazel eyes dart around nervously.

"Can I get you gentlemen some coffee?" Regina asks lightly.

"Sure," the older man says, "black for me, all the way for the kid."

He makes his way to the kitchen table uninvited, and his partner follows him like a lost puppy. They each take a seat and give Castle a once over.

"Good morning," Castle nods in their direction.

"Who are you?" the older man replies gruffly.

"My name is Rick Castle," he extends his right hand, but neither of them make a move to return the greeting so he lowers it slowly back to the table. "I was working for Mrs. Taverner."

"In what capacity?"

Something tells him to be careful with his answer, so he keeps is as ambiguous as possible. "That's between her and myself. Client privacy and all."

"Well, in that case I'm afraid what we are here to speak with her about is a private matter as well, so you'll have to excuse us."

"Oh, you can talk around Rick," Regina bustles over with two more cups of coffee and sits back down, then turns to look at Castle. "These men are from Fortress Life Insurance," she explains, "they said they need to talk to me about Scotty's policy."

Castle can't help but notice the instant change in Regina's demeanor. So far since he arrived she has simply been a slightly less chatty version of herself, but now she has morphed into the somber widow. Tears fill her eyes, threatening to fall, and her bottom lip quivers. He honestly can't tell if it's an act or if she's genuinely upset. Maybe the thought of life insurance makes the death of her husband seem more real, or maybe she just wants to put on a show. Either way, Castle wants out of here now, before the conversation goes any farther.

"Look, Regina, I really should go. Whatever they're here for is none of my business, and we can talk later, okay?"

"Okay, Rick," she says quietly, "I'll see you to the door."

"I can see myself out," he responds quickly as he stands, "thank you for the coffee, and I'll send that paperwork over sometime next week."

"That will be fine. Thank you."

Castle makes a beeline for the door, but once he's in the entryway and can't be seen anymore, he freezes. He can't hear every word, but he can make out the gist of what they're talking about. The older man, who Regina calls Mr. Freidman, says something about the contestability period and insurance fraud, and Regina heaves out a stuttering sigh. She responds with something about being innocent, her voice shrill and her words fast paced. Castle hears the scraping of chair legs and realizes he needs to get out before whoever just stood up sees him eavesdropping. He opens the door just enough to slip out, then closes it softly behind him. He makes his way to the elevator and rides it down, then heads outside to his car.

He gets in and just sits for a moment, mulling over what he'd just heard. He's so lost in thought that he almost doesn't see Kate, Ryan, and Esposito get out of a police cruiser and go inside Regina's building. _What are they doing here?_ Since he still has nothing to do and nowhere to be, he decides to camp out and wait for them to come back out. One more stakeout before the job is officially over won't hurt anybody. Well, hopefully not.

* * *

It's about thirty minutes later when Castle sees the two men leave the building. _Did Kate and the guys send them away? Or did they get what they needed? _His curiosity is running rampant, but luckily for him he only has to wait another ten minutes before the detectives and Kate reappear - _with Regina? Now what is going on? _He watches as they put her in the back of their car, and Esposito gets in the other side, but only after flipping the bird at Ryan, who shakes his head and smiles before getting into the front passenger seat. Kate gets in the driver's seat and pulls into traffic. Castle can't stop himself - he drives off after them. Once it's clear that they are headed in the direction of the precinct, he gets out his cell phone and dials Regina.

"Hello?" her voice comes through the speaker, "Rick?"

Castle has to bite back a laugh as he sees the brake lights of the cruiser come on briefly and Kate's head turn around as she fires a look to the back seat. "Yeah, it's me," he replies, "I was just calling to see how you were doing. Have the insurance men left yet?"

"Oh, Rick, it's horrible. I'm being taken in by the police for questioning."

Castle can hear voices in the background, one of them Kate's for sure. "Oh no, you don't say?" he says innocently.

"Yes. Listen, Rick, can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure."

"Can you come talk to them for me? You know, tell them I didn't kill my husband?"

He hears Kate again, this time clearly. "Mrs. Taverner, you can't be talking on the phone right now."

"I'm talking to Rick Castle. You said you know him," Regina argues.

"Give me the phone," Kate says, and Castle hears some shuffling. "Castle," she hisses, "what in the hell are you doing?"

"Just talking to my client," he tells her with a smile.

"You aren't a lawyer. You can't talk to her about an open investigation."

"Come on, Kate, let me come back in. She'll talk to me, tell me things that she probably won't tell you."

"How do you know?"

"How could she resist me?"

He swears he can hear the eye roll through the phone. Several silent moments pass before she speaks again. "I am going to regret this, but okay. You can come in. When can you be there?"

"Same time as you."

"How do you know when I'll be there?" she says, a heavy smirk in her tone.

"Look in your rearview mirror."

The cruiser's brake lights flash again, and he hears the frustrated groan come through the phone before the line goes dead. He smiles the rest of the way to the precinct.

* * *

Castle takes two steps off the elevator before Kate grabs his arm and drags him into the break room. He'd caught a couple red lights and fell behind her and the others, so he'd arrived a few minutes after them, and she was apparently waiting for him. Once in the room, she shuts both doors and comes back to Castle.

"I know you're feeling proud of yourself for finding a way back here, but let me be clear on this. You can come into the interrogation room with me, but I am taking the lead. You are not. If I need you to say something, I'll let you know."

"Kate, I'm just trying to help find the murderer, I swear. I'll help any way I can."

She glares at him, but he sees a slight softening around her eyes. She huffs out a sigh and turns around. "Come on. Let's get this over with."

Castle follows her out of the room and to the interrogation room. This time he sits beside her, and it is way, way cooler than when he was across from her.

"Hey there, Rick," Regina coos.

"Hello Regina."

"Thank you for coming. It means the world to me."

"Of course, it's the least I ca-"

A sudden kick to his calf shuts him up. He smiles at Kate, but she just turns her attention to Regina.

"Okay, Mrs. Taverner, why don't you help me help you."

"How?"

"Tell me about why you're being investigated by your late husband's life insurance company, for starters."

"I don't know," she shakes her head and looks at Castle. "Rick, tell her that I didn't do anything, please."

"Mr. Castle is only here by invitation," Kate interjects. "You can direct all your answers and statements to me. Now, why do I find it hard to believe that you don't know why you're being investigated? 2.4 million dollars is an awful lot of money."

"Detective, or investigator, whatever you are, I make mid way through the six figure range a year, and that's on a _slow_ year. I don't need the money, so why would I kill Scott for it?"

"That's what I'm wondering," Kate responds.

"I didn't kill my husband."

"Maybe you had someone else do it."

"Again, why? I have no reason to want him dead."

"You thought he was having an affair, right?" Kate leans back in her chair. "Jealously can make a person do crazy things."

"If Rick had found proof of an affair, I'd have divorced Scott's ass, not killed him."

"Alright then," Kate crosses her arms, "at least tell me why you took out the life insurance policy. You have to admit that the timing is more than a little suspect. Especially since, as you said, you don't even need the money."

"I don't like your attitude," Regina spits out. "I'm not going to talk to you anymore."

"Refusing to answer my questions is obstruction of justice."

"I'm a lawyer," Regina touches a finger to her chest, "not a measly criminal lawyer, sure, but I know my rights. I'm done talking."

Kate opens her mouth, but Castle stops her with a hand on her knee. He fears for his life, but he has a hunch. An iron grip takes hold of his wrist and wrenches his hand from its perch, but before she can say anything, the door opens. Esposito sticks his head in and looks directly at Kate.

"Yo, Beckett, Montgomery wants to see you for a minute. Now," he adds when she looks like she is going to mount an argument.

She gets up wordlessly, but anger is seething from her eyes, and her hands are balled into fists. She storms out of the room and Esposito nods at Castle then shuts the door.

"Regina," he begins, "you wanted me to come help you, but I need you to bring me up to speed. Tell me about the policy. Why did you take it out?"

"The policy was Scott's idea."

"What?"

"Yes," Regina nods, "I tried to tell him it was a waste of money, that I didn't need for him to have life insurance. But he insisted, and took it out anyway. He doesn't have any other family, so he made me the beneficiary."

"So, less than two months before he's murdered, he takes out a life insurance policy? You don't find that odd?"

"I do, but finding it odd doesn't mean that I know why he was so adamant about it."

Castle does a quick calculation in his head. "Wouldn't the time he took it out be about the same time you started suspecting him of the affair? You hired me almost a month ago, and you told me then that he'd been acting weird for about three or four weeks at that point."

Regina thinks on that for a moment. "Actually, yes. You're right," she sighs. "Rick, I had nothing to do with Scotty's death. Maybe the life insurance policy is connected to it somehow, but I can't tell you that for sure, because I have no idea."

"Is there anything else you're not sharing that could help the police find his killer?"

"No," she shakes her head, "I wasn't even trying to hide the life insurance policy. I honestly had forgotten about it until the investigators showed up today."

Castle lets out a sigh of his own. He believes her, but doesn't know if his belief is enough. "Let me go talk to the detectives. You just sit tight, okay?"

"Thank you, Rick," she says, "thank you so much."

He smiles, gets up, and leaves the room. Just outside the door he nearly runs into Kate and Captain Montgomery.

"Mr. Castle," Montgomery grins, "come with me, if you don't mind."

Castle can see Kate's jaw tighten and her eyes blaze. Something's got her worked up, and he doesn't think it's just what had happened in the interrogation room. He falls into step behind Montgomery, but sneaks a look over his shoulder at Kate as he walks away. Just before she goes back into the interrogation room, her phone rings. She pulls it out of her pocket, looks at the screen, and presses a button that makes the ringing stop. She shoves it back in her pocket and Castle turns back around before she has a chance to see him staring. Montgomery leads him to his office, closing the door behind them before sitting at his desk.

"Please, sit," he says, pointing to one of the chairs in front of him. He continues once Castle is seated. "So, Mr. Castle, I'd like to ask you something."

"Of course, sir, but please, call me Rick. Or just Castle."

"Fine, Castle it is." Montgomery smiles, "now, on to my question. Would you be interested in helping us with the case? You have valuable knowledge of both the victim and his wife that I think could turn out to be beneficial, as it was just moments ago."

"I'd like, no, I'd love to help, sir, but I don't think Kate would like it."

"This is my precinct, Castle. If I want you to consult, then you can consult. I've already spoken to Beckett, so don't you worry about that."

Castle looks through the window to the mostly empty detective's desks. A boyish grin spreads across his face of its own volition. "Then count me in, Captain. I'll do whatever I can to help."

"You'll need to sign some paperwork if you're going to do this."

"Just show me the dotted line."

Montgomery stands up and holds his hand out to Castle. "Welcome aboard then."

Castle stands too and shakes his hand. "Thank you, sir. Umm, does this mean I get a gun?"

"No."

"Fair enough."


	12. Chapter 11

Kate knows Castle can feel the heat of her glare as he exits the Captain's office. She overheard everything, of course, and for some reason, she's relieved – strangely glad that she doesn't have to keep kicking the man-child out of her hair - though there's no way in _hell_ she'll ever allow that information to see the light of day. Her glare is the result of years of practice, and by the way he flinches as he turns to face her, she knows she's got him right where she wants him.

"I take it you heard everything?"

Kate stifles a laugh as she hears his voice crack.

"Absolutely everything." She fixes him with the glare again, but this time – damn it – she can't hide the trace of a smile from the corner of her lips, and he notices. He's relaxing now, that sense of mischief returning to his eyes.

"Excellent, then you know that you can't kick me out anymore. I'm in this for the long haul."

"Until we finish this _case_, you mean." Kate pokes him in the chest as she walks by, accentuating her words, as she heads towards the observation room. Before opening the door, she turns to see him still standing dumbfounded by the Captain's office. She grins.

"While you were having your little chat, Regina's lawyer showed up. Want to go watch?"

Her voice breaks him out of his reverie.

* * *

Kate stands with Castle in the dark observation room, she's up near the glass, trying to focus in on Regina's interrogation, but to her frustration, she finds herself more attuned to Castle's breath behind her. The room is small, but he's standing _much_ closer than necessary. She can hear Espo questioning Regina and her lawyer, but none of the words are registering, they're drowned out by his soft inhalations.

Kate turns her head slightly to find him staring at _her_ – not the interrogation. She hears his breath catch as he realizes he's been caught in the act, but he doesn't look regretful, only – awed. She's locked in his gaze, unable to process anything but the feral look in his eyes, the way he's worshipping her with his expression. Her hand twitches, and she realizes that she's aching to touch him, brush her fingers against his in an effort to dispel the electric current buzzing between them.

Kate startles at the sound of Esposito's chair scraping against the floor, and she and Castle both turn their attention back to the interrogation they're supposed to be observing. Whoops. Looks like it's over now. Both Regina and her lawyer look smug, and Espo looks wary – that can't be good.

Back in the bullpen, the two private investigators hear Esposito briefing Ryan, who has just hung up the phone.

"Yo Ry, Regina says she's got an alibi, I need you to check it out for me." He hands Ryan his notebook and Ryan starts dialing the number on the page. Esposito turns back to Castle and Beckett. "And you two can look over Regina's financials. We know Scott was loaded, and I just can't figure out this life insurance thing – "

"Right. If she lied about killing him for the insurance money, her financials might shed some light on the fact." Kate interrupts.

"That may not be her only possible motive, but it's hard to get a read on her." Esposito steps past the two private investigators to move Regina's photo around on the murder board. "If Regina's telling the truth, she was at the gym at the time of the murder – and she claims her personal trainer can vouch for her."

"Yeah, I _bet_ he can." Castle mumbles it into Kate's ear, suddenly appearing at her side, and she shoves him away before she realizes what she's doing, throws him an evil eye.

"How do we know her trainer is even a man, Castle?" She speaks the words slowly, scrapes her tongue against her teeth. His eyes are glued to her mouth. He swallows roughly.

"I'm just… assuming."

"Never just assume. Go where the evidence takes you." She barks out, and steps away, putting a few feet between them. "We'll get started looking into her financials and see if we can shake a motive out. My gut says she didn't do it though. She's not angry enough."

"Hey guys!" Ryan calls to them from his desk where he's just hung up the phone. He stands up and jogs over to them at the murder board. "I just talked to Regina's personal trainer. He confirms that she was working out with him between the hours of 9 and 11pm the night Scott was murdered."

Kate doesn't dare look at Castle. She knows he's been staring at her with a smug grin on his face since Ryan said "he" in reference to the personal trainer. She doesn't need to give him that satisfaction.

"Damn." Kate mutters, stepping closer to the white board.

"That's awful late for a workout, bro." Espo raises a wary eyebrow, directed past her.

"Oh, I think I know what kind of 'work-out' he's referring to." She hears Castle say from behind her, she can even hear the eyebrow-raise in his voice.

"Actually, it was the kind of work-out you'd expect – sweaty weight-lifting, treadmills and all. I also talked to the front-desk manager to confirm." Ryan says, further confirming Regina's story. "In fact, he said Regina was there last night as well for a session."

"Whoa. That's dedication. She must have some amazing – "

"More like extreme narcissism. Who goes to work out after their husband has been murdered?" Esposito interrupts. Kate shoots Espo a grateful look, thankful that she didn't have to hear the end of Castle's sentence. _Ugh_. She turns to the murder board again, plucking Regina's picture off the board.

"Damn." Kate mutters. "Back to square one."

* * *

Kate and Castle sit at Espo's desk while he's out getting burgers for a late lunch. They went ahead and sifted through Regina Taverner's financial records, but as expected, found no unexplainable transactions, and definitely no reason for the woman to be after her late husband's life insurance money.

"Kate, we're basically nowhere unless we can get Louis Meech to talk." She turns to look at him, and he places his hand on hers over the computer mouse. It's endearing, his being the voice of reason. "Espo just got back with lunch, let's take a break. You need some sustenance." Okay, now it's a little annoying. She doesn't need to be babied.

"I'm fine, Castle." She shrugs her shoulder, and shakes her hand away from his, turning back to the computer files.

"Kaaaaate, come on." She is ready to kill him now, suddenly his close proximity is driving her crazy. She needs space. She stands up, turning on her heel and steps quickly away, putting as much distance between them as possible. As she turns the corner and starts down the hallway, she sees the lady's room up ahead. Surely he won't follow her in there.

She comes out ten minutes later, after splashing some water on her face. She feels better, but the gnawing in her stomach is becoming uncomfortable. Her team isn't in the bullpen, and she caves, heads toward the break room and the ever-enticing lure of burgers – and _oh_, those fries.

* * *

"Honestly, I don't understand why we were looking at Regina anyway." Castle mumbles it out with a full mouth, and she points to her chin, alerting him to the ketchup that's made its residence in the space under his lips. He swipes the back of his hand over his chin, effectively smearing the ketchup all over his face before continuing. "Louis Meech said that he was afraid of a _man_, a very dangerous man. And I'm sorry but, I can't imagine two personal security experts trembling in their boots at the sight of Regina. Well actually, I can, but it's definitely not under the circumstances you're expecting – "

"Castle!" She barks at him, glaring.

"_You_ on the other hand… yeah, you're scary enough to be the Dragon." Kate rolls her eyes at the man-child, taking another bite of her burger, swallowing it down.

"The Dragon, Castle?"

"Yeah, I figure we need a nickname for this guy. Especially if he's as evil as Meech makes him out to be. Ooh! Maybe it's a real dragon!" She wants to slap him.

"Right. Scott Taverner was killed by a real dragon." She turns to Ryan and Espo with an eye-roll, but they both look thoroughly entertained and not in the least bit annoyed. "You see why I didn't want him involved with the investigation?" The boys simply shrug, as though they're actually considering Castle's theory.

"_Any_way. There's no way the killer is Regina. She's not scary enough. And she's not a he."

Kate pops the last bite of her burger into her mouth before she answers, allowing the food to energize her as it hits her stomach.

"We have to rule everyone out Castle." Kate slumps back in her chair.

"I see where you're comin' from Castle. We're just as frustrated to be back at square one." Espo chimes in.

"I don't know how we're going to get Louis Meech to talk. If he's really terrified of this guy, it's going to be tough getting anything else out of him." Ryan interjects while fiddling with his necktie.

"He seems pretty happy down there in his holding cell." Espo's smiling, trying to loosen the tension in the room as he lifts his coke bottle to his lips.

"Any word on DeLuca?" Kate asks, and both Ryan and Esposito shake their heads. She has an idea, but she's reluctant to go in that direction. Ugh, screw it. "Well… I do have a contact down at the hospital, someone who can give me inside information." All three boys look at her with eyebrows raised, but Castle's are the most pronounced. "Oh come on, guys. It's not like you don't know who I'm talking about."

"How are you going to repay him for this information, _Kate_?" Kate gapes at Castle and snaps out her reply.

"Under no circumstances, will my personal life ever be your business Castle."

"Is that so?" He's leaning towards her again, thoroughly invading her personal space and she feels her heart rate picking up speed. It's beyond her control, honestly, and she can't stand it because _ugh_. He is such an asshole. He should _not_ be allowed to affect her this way.

"Yo, you two want to take a break from the eyesex and answer the question?" Kate flushes deep crimson, breaking Castle's gaze and covers her face with her hand in a gesture of frustration, attempting to hide her embarrassment. Espo is giving her an interested stare, and she opens her mouth to ask him to repeat his question, but is interrupted by an odd shouting.

"Dad, Dad, Dad! Dad, Dad, Dad! Dad, Dad, Dad!" It's coming from Castle's cell phone, and she stares at him, startled.

"Sorry! That's my daughter calling. I'll just… I'll just step out here." He stands up and she nods at him as he turns the corner and answers. She and her former partners sit in an awkward silence for just a few seconds before he rounds the corner again.

"I'm sorry. Alexis is in some trouble and needs me to come pick her up."

"What's wrong?" Kate stands now, heads toward the door to collect her coat instinctively.

"No need for you to come along, it's fine really." It's clear to Kate that he's not fine. He's on edge, and worried, and she doesn't think he should be driving like this.

"Castle. Something is obviously bothering you, is Alexis okay?"

"She may have been riding with a friend who just got pulled over for a DUI. Paige is being arrested, Alexis needs a ride home. She sounded really shaken up on the phone. I need to –"

"I'm coming with you." Castle doesn't argue. Kate grabs her coat and turns to Ryan and Esposito. "You two will be okay without me?"

"Course, Kate. We can handle ourselves. We're going to run through Scott's coworkers again. You two go. Take the police cruiser. Take care of your daughter, Castle." Kate turns and snakes her arm around Castle's, pulling him down the hall and towards the elevator. She's smiling to herself, can't help being pleased by how quickly Ryan and Espo had come to accept him as part of the team, loyal to the end.

* * *

"When I get home, I'm locking Alexis in the closet."

"Castle, calm down. Alexis did the right thing by calling you. She could've tried to cover it up."

"I just can't get past the idea that my baby was riding around with a drunk driver. She's only seventeen! How did kids that young acquire alcohol? And in the middle of the day?!"

"I think you know exactly how they acquire alcohol. And she told you she wasn't drinking, Castle." Kate debates for a second, and then moves her hand over to rest on his knee. "You've got to trust her. Believe me, as a former teenage girl, a lack of trust is just asking for trouble."

"There she is." Castle points, and Kate smiles at the pretty young redhead, who looks horrified that her father brought company – or maybe it's just because he's picking her up in a police cruiser. Kate pulls over, they're in the middle of the highway and a uniformed officer is leaning against his patrol car with a very sorrowful-looking girl in the backseat. Kate steps out of the cruiser with Castle on her tail. The officer steps forward and offers Kate his hand.

"You police?"

"Consultants with the 12th." The officer nods. "My partner and I are here to pick up Alexis." Kate turns to see Alexis hugging her father, looking equal parts relieved and terrified.

"Hopefully she learns a lot from this. She passed the Breathalyzer test, and claims she didn't know her friend was drunk. I let her off with a warning, but unfortunately I've got to take this one down to the station." He gestures toward his patrol car with his thumb.

"Thanks officer, and I'm sorry for your trouble."

"It's no problem ma'am. I didn't want to leave her here alone." He tips his hat to her and heads back to his patrol car.

* * *

Kate can feel the thick tension filling the small space of her cruiser as she drives stoically, keeping her eyes fixed on the road. Castle and Alexis have been silent for most of the ride, other than Castle giving Kate directions to his loft in a clipped tone, and now he's tapping his fingers on his thigh, agitated. After fifteen minutes, it's starting to agitate _her_. She clears her throat and fixes him with a death glare, trying to get him to stop it, but Alexis takes it as her cue to finally speak up.

"Dad, I swear. I didn't know Paige was drunk. She was acting a little funny, but she said it was just some medication she's on. I'm her best friend, how could I not believe her?" He turns around to look at Alexis face to face, seems to think for a second about his answer. Kate's thankful for that, for the girl's sake.

"I suggest you rethink your choice of best friend."

"_Dad_, everyone makes mistakes."

"I don't care, that's not acceptable!" He's getting worked up now, his voice rising a few octaves. "What if you'd –_God_, Alexis – what if – "

"Castle. She's fine, okay? No need to overreact. Alexis didn't do anything wrong, I'm sure Paige will learn from this mistake." Kate interrupts, and Castle looks over at her with a _you're-not-helping_ expression, but she shoots him a glare back. _Go easy on her. Remember what I said._

"I'm sorry, Alexis." He says, deflating. "I know you're a responsible kid. I just can't bear the thought of you getting hurt."

They're finally outside of Castle's apartment building now, and he directs Kate into the underground parking lot. All three are silent as she parks the cruiser, and the two Castles get out of the car. Kate sees him embrace Alexis again as soon as the girl's door slams, and she feels a warm sensation in her chest. _How can this be the same frustrating, annoying man who's been following me around for the past three days?_ She suddenly feels a little ashamed for jumping to conclusions, possibly misjudging him, and she turns her face away from the car window. She fully expects him to take Alexis up to his loft, and now that the sun is setting, she can feel the wear and tear of the past few days on her body. She sinks down into her seat and reaches down to start the ignition again. She'll call the boys and tell them she's headed home for the night, to call her if they get a lead.

Castle raps on her door before she can finish her thought and she rolls down the window.

"You want to come up? Maybe have some dinner with us?" She waffles with the thought, but takes the fluttering of her heart as a warning sign and hesitates.

"I have to get back to the precinct, Castle," she lies, "Call my contact at the hospital and check on DeLuca – " She sees Castle's face fall at the same moment she hears the loud trilling of her cell phone. It's Ryan.

"Hello?"

"Yo, Beckett! Get back here! DeLuca's awake!"


	13. Chapter 12

Castle can tell something is up by the expression that washes over Kate's face, a mixture of excitement and frustration.

"What's going on?" he asks as soon as she hangs up the phone.

"DeLuca's awake."

"Are you going down there now?"

"Yeah, I guess I am."

Castle fights back a sigh as an internal struggle ignites within him. Alexis, ever attuned to him, notices right away.

"Dad," she places a hand gently on his arm, "if you need to go with her for work, it's okay."

"No, Alexis," he forces a smile, "we need to talk."

"We can talk when you get back," Alexis shakes her head, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Hey, Castle?" Kate waits for him to look down at her before she continues. "Our cars are still at the precinct. Why don't you ride with me to the hospital, it won't take long, and then we can run by the 12th and get our cars."

"Go ahead, Dad," Alexis urges.

Castle looks back at her. "Alexis, I-"

"Dad," she interrupts, "I'd like some time alone to think about things. Go do your work, get the car, then call me when you're on the way home and I'll put the finishing touches on dinner so we can eat together."

Kate clears her throat, getting Castle's attention again, and when he glances down at her she widens her eyes and nods almost imperceptibly towards the passenger seat. He realizes he's truly outnumbered on this one, and turns to Alexis, wrapping her in another tight hug.

"I'll be back soon, okay?" he whispers into her hair.

"Okay, Dad."

He lets her go and turns back to Kate. "Let me take her upstairs, and then we can go."

"I can go upstairs by myself," Alexis chuckles, then pushes him gently towards the car. "Go catch a bad guy or whatever it is you're doing."

"Are you sure?"

"Dad!" and "Castle!" ring out simultaneously, similar groans embedded in the words. He can't help but grin slightly as he trots around the car and climbs in the passenger seat.

"Kate, will you wait for her to get inside?" he asks as he buckles his seat belt.

"Sure."

They watch Alexis walk to the door that leads to the back entry of the lobby, and then Kate starts for the exit.

"She seems like a good kid, Castle," Kate says once she pulls into traffic.

"She is," he sighs, "and Paige is too. I don't know what got into her." He sighs again, louder, heavier. "I don't know what got into me. I shouldn't have gotten so mad. I was just worried that Alexis could've been hurt."

"That's perfectly understandable," Kate smiles, "but it's good that you let her have some time to herself. We girls need to process things, and she'll probably punish herself with guilt far more than you could with fussing at her."

"Yeah, she's pretty good with the self punishing thing," he chuckles, "always has been."

They fall into an oddly comfortable silence, and it lasts almost ten minutes before it's interrupted by the ringing of Kate's cell phone. Castle glances over when she pulls it from her pocket and sees the face of the doctor that had approached her at the hospital, the one named Josh. She groans so softly that Castle barely hears it, then hits the decline button before returning the phone to her pocket.

"Is he some sort of doctor of death?"

Kate shoots him a confused glare. "What?"

"You keep avoiding his calls," Castle shrugs, "I was wondering if he is a killer or something."

"Does he look like a killer to you?"

"Ted Bundy didn't look like a killer."

"Josh is not a killer, Castle."

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

"Just like you knew I wasn't the killer?"

"Oh, you are a killer," Kate smirks.

"What?!" Castle's mouth hangs open in confusion.

"Yes, you kill my patience."

Castle squints at her indignantly and crossed his arms, feigning hurt. He turns his head so it looks like he is staring out the window, but really he's watching her reflection. Even this slightly distorted, darkened version of her is beautiful.

"We sort of went out."

Castle turns back to Kate and drops his arms to his lap. "What?"

"Josh and I. We were...together."

"I didn't ask."

"Well, you were not asking really loudly while staring at me in the glass."

He ignores the second part of her statement. "I know, I'm like a Jedi like that. What do you mean by sort of?"

She shakes her head. "That's all you're getting."

Castle doesn't reply at first, but when Kate comes to a stop at a red light she looks over at him and he mentions something that's been on his mind for a while.

"You called me your partner."

"What?" she cocks her head slightly to one side.

"When we were picking up Alexis you told the cop there that I was your partner."

She shrugs. "It was just easier than trying to explain the situation to him."

"Sure it was," he teases.

She rolls her eyes, but before she can respond a horn bellows out from behind them, letting them know that the red light is now green. Kate sets the car in motion and waits a few moments before speaking.

"Why did you stop writing books?"

Castle is surprised, but answers quickly. "I decided it was the best thing I could do for Alexis. When she was born I'd only had one successful book and I wanted something more secure."

"And private investigations are more secure than writing books?"

"You don't have to be a best selling investigator to make a decent living on this job." Castle jokes.

Kate laughs at that, and it makes Castle happy. Her laugh is like music to his ears. She hesitates, and the look on her face makes him think she wants to ask more, but she stops the car in front of the hospital and he doesn't get to find out if he's right.

"Let's go, Castle," is all she says as she climbs out of the car.

He follows her wordlessly, and finds himself suddenly full of hope that they don't bump into Dr. Sort of Went Out.

* * *

Kate leads Castle to the elevator, pushes the button for the fifth floor, and once it arrives she continues down the hall to room 547. The two officers standing guard outside the door watch them intently, then the one closest to them holds up a hand to stop them.

"Sorry, only law enforcement is allowed in this room," he tells them.

"We're here to meet Detectives Ryan and Esposito," Kate explains, "are they here yet?"

"I can't discuss an open investigation, ma'am," the officer replies.

Before Kate can reply, Ryan sticks his head out of the door and waves at them. "They're with me," he tells the young officer.

"Sorry, I didn't know."

"No worries," Kate says as she steps past him into the room.

Castle smiles at the cops as he follows her, and realizes the other officer is the same woman who'd woken him up that morning in his car. If she's surprised to see him she doesn't show it, just gives him a curt nod in response to his smile.

Once inside the room, Castle gives DeLuca a quick once over. He looks feeble, but he's sitting up with the help of the inclined bed. He's talking to Esposito, but each word seems to take great effort on his part, and he's speaking so softly that Castle can't hear him even from less than six feet away. He turns his attention from DeLuca and steps over to where Ryan and Kate are talking.

"I just can't believe I forgot to ask the surgeon for it," Kate is saying when he walks up.

"Forgot to ask him for what?" Castle asks.

Ryan holds up a small evidence bag with several small metal fragments inside. "These are the bullet remnants they pulled from DeLuca during his surgery."

"And I should have gotten them last night when we were here," Kate adds.

"It's no big deal," Ryan assures her. "Technically it would've broken chain of custody since you-" he trails off, his face skewed with regret "-I, I'm sorry, Beckett, I didn't mean anything by it."

She shakes her head. "Nothing to be sorry about Ryan. You're right. It's actually better that I didn't get it, I just hate that I forgot about even asking. I guess I'm a bit rustier than I'd like to admit."

"What has DeLuca said?" Castle notices the grateful look that both Ryan and Kate give him for the subject change.

"Not much," Ryan pockets the baggie and opens a little notebook. "He still won't tell us anymore about Taverner or what he was up to," he looks up at them. "He's pretty frightened of whomever is behind all this though."

"You mean The Dragon, right?" Castle grins.

Kate rolls her eyes. "Maybe we should tell him Meech already talked and we just want him to verify the story."

Ryan shakes his head. "We tried that. He didn't bite."

"Meech might fall for it though," Kate shrugs. "It'd be worth a try."

"Yeah," Ryan nods. "and before we send the bullet pieces over to ballistics, I want to run them by the morgue for Lanie to look at in the morning. She pulled the bullets from Taverner and she might be able to match them up to give us a lead faster than ballistics can."

"If we need a warrant that won't be a solid enough match," Kate replies.

"Doesn't matter," Ryan closes his notebook and tucks it in his jacket pocket, "if she can confirm they match we could start looking for where they came from. Hopefully we won't need a warrant, but if we do then maybe when that time comes ballistics will have confirmed the match."

"Sounds good."

"I've never been to a morgue," Castle says with a surge of excitement that is probably not a normal reaction for talking about a place where people get dissected, but he doesn't care.

"Well, I guess there's a first time for everything," Kate grins, "you can come with us in the morning."

Castle clasps his hands together happily. "Fantastic."

"Yo, Beckett," Esposito calls from across the room, "DeLuca wants to talk to you guys."

Ryan, Kate, and Castle walk over to join him by the bed, and DeLuca smiles weakly.

"You two okay?" he asks, his voice gravelly and strained.

"Yeah, we're fine," Castle nods, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm not feeling much to be honest with you," his smile fades. "In fact, I can't feel anything below about my mid torso."

"Mr. DeLuca," Kate steps closer to the bed, "I'm sorry this happened to you. We said we'd keep you safe, and we didn't."

"This isn't your fault, sweetheart. I choose to stay and talk with you, and you didn't pull the trigger. You two saved my life, from what I was told."

"We just did what anyone else would've done," Castle clears his throat before continuing. "Look, I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but why don't you tell us who killed Taverner and shot you? The sooner we can get him off the street, the sooner you'll be completely safe."

DeLuca sighs and looks back and forth between Castle and Kate several times. "I'm sorry. I just can't. Maybe that makes me a coward, maybe it's me trying to keep you all from getting hurt too, I don't know. But I just can't tell you."

* * *

The ride back to the precinct is a quiet one. Castle frustratedly mulls over the lack of information in his mind the whole ride, but he can't come up with any new ideas. Kate parks the cruiser and they climb out. Their cars are parked next to each other a few spaces down, so they head that way side by side, stopping and facing each other when they get to Kate's car.

"So," Kate says after several moments, "I'll see you in the morning?"

"Most definitely," Castle grins widely, then adopts a more serious facial expression, "and thank you, by the way."

"For what?"

"Your help with Alexis today."

"Castle, I just gave you a ride to where she was. I didn't really do anything."

"That's not true. You kept me from yelling at her any more than I did, and you helped me realize she needed some time alone," he steps closer to her. "I did a lot of things at her age that make me thankful that she's not like me in some ways, and she so rarely does anything wrong that I tend to overreact when she does."

"Well, in that case, you're welcome, Castle."

He takes another step towards her and reaches for her hand. She swallows hard and licks her lips. It lights a fire in him that he can barely contain. He wraps his fingers gently around hers and leans in, almost laughing when her eyes widen. He presses his lips to her cheek, less than an inch from where he really wants to place them. He lingers for only a moment then pulls away, tugging her keys from her fist as he moves back. He unlocks her door and opens it for her, bowing slightly with her keys held out to her.

"Goodnight, Kate," he smiles again, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Um, yeah, night."

She takes her keys and gets in her car, and Castle waits until she's clear before shutting the door. He waves as he walks around to his car. After he lets himself in, he looks back over at Kate, who quickly looks away when their eyes connect. She starts her car and drives off, and Castle lets out a laugh before he heads off towards home.

* * *

As soon as he steps through the door, Alexis throws herself into Castle's arms. He hugs her tightly, even tighter than before in the parking garage, and they stand in a silent embrace for several minutes before Alexis speaks.

"Dad, I'm sorry."

Castle pulls away enough to look down at her. "Alexis, I'm sorry too. I overreacted."

"It's okay, and I promise I didn't drink anything, not even a sip."

"I know," he smiles briefly, "look, it's not even the drinking itself that upset me. It's the fact that you could've gotten hurt. Or worse."

"You've known Paige as long as I have, practically her whole life. I trust her."

"You're getting a little too old for blind trust, Alexis. It's a dangerous world out there, and the danger doesn't have to come from a stranger."

"I'm going to make mistakes sometimes."

"And that's okay, but, well, just be careful?"

"I'll be as careful as I can."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Now, let's eat before our dinner gets cold."

"Sounds good. I'm starving." Castle turns her around and lays an arm across her shoulders, and they start towards the kitchen.

"So, Dad, I have to ask you a question about Miss Beckett."

"Okay."

"Why are you working with her? I thought she was sleeping with your client's husband."

Castle laughs. "I guess I need to bring you up to speed, huh?" They reach the kitchen and break apart. "Why don't you dish us up some of that wonderful smelling chicken alfredo and I'll get us some drinks," he tells her as he steps over to one of the cabinets, "and I'll fill you in on all the details while we eat."

* * *

"Kate Beckett, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!"

"It's good to see you too, Lanie," Kate smiles at the shorter, bright eyed woman.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here?"

"I'm helping the guys on a case."

"And who is that man standing behind you that you have failed to introduce me to?"

Kate glances over her shoulder and chuckles. "This is Rick Castle. He's-"

"I'm helping too," Castle interrupts with a wide smile. He steps around Kate and walks across the room to the medical examiner. When he reaches her he takes her hand in his and quickly kisses the smooth skin on top. "And you're Lanie?"

"Yes, Lanie Parrish," she lifts her eyebrows, "it's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine."

Lanie leans to the side to look at Kate. "I do hope you're consulting with him after hours."

Esposito clears his throat as Ryan comes up beside Castle and hands Lanie the small bag of metal shards. Castle smiles as he turns to look back at Kate, but the glare she's giving him tells him to keep his quips to himself for the time being.

"So, Lanie," Kate says, "can you look at these bullet fragments and tell us if they match the ones you pulled from Scott Taverner?"

"I'll give it a try." She walks over to her desk and grabs a photograph out of a folder and takes it and the bag over to a table with a microscope on it. "The bullets that killed him had a odd blueish coloration to them. It's pretty distinct, so if these are the same type I should see a similar color effect. I sent some to trace and they told me it was from polytetrafluoroethylene coating or tips on the bullets."

"Polytetrafluoroethylene?" Castle looks at Kate. "Is that a spy thing? Please tell me that's a spy thing."

"It's teflon, Castle."

"Oh," he says dejectedly.

Lanie chuckles while she pulls on some latex gloves, and the detectives and investigators gather together on the other side of the table. They wait as she takes out a few pieces of the metal and examines them under the microscope. Every so often she glances at the photo for comparison, and after a few minutes she looked up at the group with a smile.

"Yep, these have that same blue tint to them. You'll need trace and ballistics to confirm, but I'm confident that you're looking at the same type of bullet that killed Taverner. Where are these from?"

"The other shooting victim, Antonio DeLuca," Ryan answers.

"May I look at the fragments?" Castle asks eagerly.

"Sure thing, hotshot," Lanie grins and steps back to give him room.

"Awesome," he whispers as he comes around the table puts his eyes to the scope. "Why would bullets be tipped with teflon?"

"Teflon coating can help reduce barrel wear," Esposito explains, "and teflon tipped bullets go through windows easier than bullets without it."

Castle straightens up. "Maybe that's it then," he says excitedly, "since DeLuca was shot through a window, that would explain the need for teflon tipped bullets."

"But then why would the gunman use them on Scott?" Kate wonders out loud.

"Maybe it's just his signature or preference," Esposito offers.

"Or he makes them himself," Ryan adds.

Kate sighs. "Did CSU find any traces of teflon in the rooms where Scott or DeLuca were shot from?"

"No," Ryan shakes his head, "and there were no fingerprints, no fibers, no casings, nothing."

"The trajectory of the shots is the only thing that even validates that we actually found where the shooter was for each of the shootings," Esposito affirms.

"So," Kate crosses her arms, "we've got nothing connecting the two shootings except the relationship between the victims and some teflon?"

"I don't think that'll _stick_ in court," Castle laughs at his joke, but stops when he realizes he's the only one doing so.

"_Anyway_," Kate continues, "how did this guy manage to leave two crime scenes totally evidence free?"

"I don't know," Esposito replies, "but we're definitely looking at a pro."

Kate groans. "We're going to have to get DeLuca or Meech to give us something."

"DeLuca's _not_ going to talk," Castle surmises.

"Well then," Kate lets her arms fall back to her sides, "here's hoping we can convince Meech to give us something."


	14. Chapter 13

Kate shifts from foot to foot at the murder board, letting herself adjust to their newest information. _A pro. A hit-man_. The thought makes her shudder, her spine tingling with dread. _Who the hell is behind this?_ Esposito steps behind her, his presence grounding her again, and she turns to regard him.

"If we're looking at a pro, I'm willing to bet he was tailing Taverner for weeks." He taps his index finger against Scott's picture on the board, "Researching. Looking for the perfect time to strike." Espo's voice turns soft and sullen and Kate turns to him and forces a smile, her heart aching. How easy it is for her to forget how deeply wounded the man must be. He never lets it show through, but his past as a military sniper had to have taken its toll.

"What do you mean by 'tailing him'?" Kate asks, and she flinches as Castle appears next to her – too close – and where did he even come from? But his eyes are thick with focus, she can almost see the wheels turning in his head.

Espo answers her, "A professional hit-man, a sniper, would want to know exactly where their target is going to be at every moment of his day. They stalk their prey. I'm willing to bet he followed Scott for at least a couple of weeks before he killed him."

"So – maybe when we questioned Scott's coworkers the first time, we weren't asking the right questions. If one of them can ID the sniper, and we follow him up the chain of command, we can nail this criminal mastermind!" Castle chimes in, nearly bouncing like an excited child. Esposito nods harshly before answering.

"Exactly, bro. And we still need to try and get more out of Meech – with DeLuca being awake, I think we have some more leverage to work with."

Castle meets Kate's eyes, as if asking permission for something. She's clueless, so she smiles tentatively, waits him out.

"Since Scott's coworkers already know you, Kate and I can do some rat-race interrogations while you two," Castle gestures between Ryan and Esposito with an index finger, "beat the snot out of Meech." Kate rolls her eyes in his direction, but he pretends not to notice. Espo is holding his hand in a fist by his head and Castle raises his arm to bump fists with him.

"Sounds perfect, bro."

* * *

"Castle! Stop fidgeting!" Kate reaches an arm across the center console and holds on to his thigh, trying to stop its wiggling. It stops, and she turns to see Castle meet her eyes.

"Sorry, Kate." He begins, with a look that says, _I'm really not sorry_. "I just keep thinking about the crime scenes, how they had no trace evidence, nothing shifted around. It's terrifying to think that this person, who murders people from afar without leaving evidence, could've been as close to Scott as you and I are."

She lets out a defeated sigh. "Yeah, I know how you feel, Castle. But this may be how we end up finding the guy, and when we do, we're putting him away for life. The closer he got to Scott, the easier it will be to nab him. So let's hope he got _close_."

He looks down at her hand still on his leg, and grabs hold of it with his own hand before she has the presence of mind to jerk it away, threading their fingers together. "Well, it was probably not _quite this_ close." She's staring straight ahead at the road, trying not to let him see her flushed face, but she knows he's waggling those eyebrows at her, and her lips tilt upward to let a brief smile escape.

"You're ridiculous." She finally manages, but her voice displays a full-bodied mirth that he undoubtedly catches onto.

"Ridiculously handsome, you mean." She jerks her hand away from his and uses the back of it to slap him hard on the shoulder.

"Shut _up_." She's trying to scold him, she really is – but he's gotten under her skin, and a laugh bubbles out of her as he grabs her hand again, unwilling to relinquish it.

She doesn't try to take it back for the rest of the ride.

* * *

"I'm exhausted. There has to be a million employees in this building!" Castle lets out another whine and Kate can't stop herself from considering how easily she might be able to dispose of his body if he finally makes her snap.

"Castle, we've only questioned one floor."

"It's a really _huge_ floor! I bet there are 500 employees on this floor alone."

She shoots him a death glare as her phone rings, and she starts fishing in her pocket for it.

"Beckett."

"Hey Kate, it's Javi – how's the canvas coming?" Kate glances around her to make sure it's safe to talk, but sees no one around them in the office building's back hallway.

"Hey. We're about to head back. We've re-questioned everyone on Scott's floor, and all the guys who work the front desk. No one noticed anything and no one seems suspicious."

"Oooh, except for that one woman with a glass-eye, she was seriously creepy!" Castle is whispering it to her harshly, gesturing to his eye and shuddering dramatically. He's stepped up close to her to try and hear her conversation with Esposito, but she waves her hand at him, shooing him away.

"That's a shame. But hey, listen to this – Ryan and I may have got a lead outta Meech. He told us that the Dragon definitely would've hired a pro because he doesn't like getting his hands dirty, and he also said that there was a joint he told Scott to meet him at once, sounds like he threatened him."

"Maybe he was blackmailing him?" Kate said.

"Could be, but Meech said he and DeLuca followed Scott to meet this guy because he was afraid to go alone. Well, the hit-man or the Dragon must've gotten scared away by the two of them because no one ever showed and Scott high-tailed it outta there before things could go south. But get this: the next day? Scott got another call from this Dragon guy, put him on edge. That was two days before he was shot."

"Any idea where this place is?"

"Yeah, it's a club on 43rd, Meech thinks it's where the Dragon does all his wheeling and dealing."

"Thanks Javi, anything else?"

"No, we're looking up this place right now. Talk to you when you get here."

Kate hangs up the phone and fills Castle in on the phone call while they ride the elevator back down to the lobby.

"Do you really think the sniper is still going to be hanging out down at the club?"

"You should know men Castle, always creatures of habit. Especially psychotic ones." She leaves him standing in the elevator, perplexed, and shimmies her hips a little more than usual as she walks towards the building's exit. She's not surprised when he catches up to her fairly quickly, moving to hold the door open for her. The display of chivalry makes her blush, but she doesn't think he notices.

The building's outdoor security officer tips his hat in their direction and Kate nods to him, turns to walk down the street before stopping in her tracks. Castle bumps into her from behind, sending a sharp jolt of electricity through her when his hand nudges her ass. She turns quickly, realization etched all over her features.

"Castle. We didn't talk to the security officer." She's looking over his shoulder at the man, and reaches up and pushes on Castle's shoulder, walks back towards the office building.

"Sir, hi. I'm Kate Beckett, a private investigator working with the NYPD, and this is my partner Rick Castle. We were wondering if you've happened to see anything that may have been suspicious going on around here over the past two or three weeks? Maybe something involving…" Kate pulls her phone out of her pocket, calls up the photograph of Scott Taverner before flashing it in front of the security officer's face. "This man?"

The security officer scrunches up his wrinkled forehead, leans in close and then shakes his head.

"No ma'am. I see him comin' in and outta here, sure. But ain't nothing suspicious about it."

Castle chimes in.

"Maybe you've seen someone else hanging around here, it would've been about two weeks ago. Someone who doesn't work here, and definitely doesn't belong here."

The security officer scratches his head and looks up as if in thought.

"Maybe it's nothing, but I did notice a guy pacing around in front of the building a couple a weeks ago. The thing that was odd about it was that he was back for a few days in a row. Thought he might be waiting for someone up there, ya know?" He gestures to the tower behind him.

"What'd this guy look like?" Kate asks, trying to keep her voice steady, hide her eagerness.

"He was blond, tall, muscular. Had pretty blue eyes, but I think he had a scar on his face."

Kate smiles at the man and then shares a quick look with Castle, sees the excitement dancing through his features as well.

"This building has security cameras, right?" The man nods. "We're going to need you to pull the camera's feed from around the same time you saw this man, and then come down to the precinct and identify him for us."

"I don't know miss. I can't just leave my post like that."

"You'll need to work it out, sir. This is part of an ongoing homicide investigation."

The security officer looks genuinely alarmed, but then schools his features and nods before leading Kate and Castle inside.

* * *

"Yo, man – what took you so long?" Kate growls under her breath as Esposito addresses Castle first. Sure, Castle's several steps ahead of them – security officer Frankie Hillman and herself – but something flickers in her chest at the realization that she and Castle are now some kind of unorthodox team. _When did _that_ happen?_ She steps quickly behind the solid, smiling man – determined not to let this ridiculous fluttering feeling affect her job performance – and answers the question Castle has left hanging in the air.

"We caught another lead as we were leaving – turns out the security officer," She gestures to the man behind her, "Saw a man staking out Scott's building two weeks ago. Got him to pull the security footage for us." She holds up her arm and wiggles the CD in her hand. Espo beams at her and grabs it, turns on his heel and heads for his desk. Kate lags behind, making sure that Frankie gets a good view of the video feed.

Espo pulls up the video quickly and looks back at Kate for clarification.

"He says he saw the man on this day around lunch time." She points at the screen. Espo nods and hits video speeds up, and everyone is leaning in, watching with rapt attention, too focused on the task to even breathe.

"That's him!" Frankie shouts, and Espo pauses the feed quickly, stopping on an image of the street, packed full of pedestrians. Frankie leans in and extends a meaty finger toward the screen, gesturing toward the blonde man near the center. The picture is grainy, but the face is distinctive, all sharp jutting bones and tight lines.

Kate startles as Castle stands up and lets out a loud clap.

"Yes! We got him!"

"Whoa, boy. Calm down. We aren't even close yet."

* * *

She's not sure she'll survive this. In the locker room at the precinct, Kate pulls off her jeans, and shimmies her hips into a skin-tight skirt, something she pulled out of the vice department. She runs her hand over her exposed thigh and thanks her lucky stars that she shaved this morning. Her blouse is exchanged for a tiny tube top, and she layers a black leather blazer over it, adjusts her chest and musses her hair. After applying a thick layer of red lipstick, she takes a deep breath and steps back into the bull pen.

The look on Castle's face makes her breathing stutter. She turns to hide the smile cracking over her face and stifles a laugh. His eyes are as big as saucers and there's a drop of drool threatening to spill from his mouth at any second. _I want to kiss it off. Whoa, Kate. Where the hell did that thought come from?_ He doesn't look so bad himself, all sleek lines and mussed hair. Somehow his eyes look bluer than ever before. _How does he do that?_ Kate sashays toward him and Espo turns, catching a glimpse of her and letting out a long whistle. She gives him the evil eye and he avoids her gaze like a scalded dog, instead turning his attention on Castle, nudging his elbow.

"I don't know if this is going to work Castle. We've got to maintain a level of plausibility here. She may be too much woman for ya." Ryan barks out a laugh from behind them, and Esposito looks smug.

"Ha ha, very funny guys. We've got this under control. Beckett and I are nothing if not professional." He turns to pull Kate into his side, placing his hand over her shoulder, and she shrugs him off, snorting.

"Professional, my _ass_." She barks at him, "But you're just my arm candy anyway." Castle lets out a feral groan, so quiet, she knows it was for her ears only.

"You guys sure you're up to this? We'll have backup surrounding the scene, so with your wires, you'll be able to alert us to anything fishy that goes down in that place." Kate nods, adrenaline pumping through her body at the thought of being part of an undercover op again – it really has nothing to do with the man she's pressed up against, her _friend_. Partner?

* * *

The bouncer is easy enough to charm, though he gives Castle some menacing looks as she drags him through the door. The club is high-end, dark and ritzy, full of women who might be labeled as call girls rather than one of the more derogatory terms. Castle coughs as soon as they make it through the entryway, smoke and other substances thick in the air. They sway together instinctively, and Castle places his hand on her hip, the contact sending an electric shock through her, making her jump. She immediately stops swaying, and turns in his arms. He doesn't let go of her hip, only seems to grip her tighter. The music is so loud that when Kate tries to talk to Castle, her yells come across as barely a whisper.

"Castle, remember the plan, ok? I'm going to scope the place out, and you're going to hang back."

"But, I'm here to be your back-up, Kate!"

"Castle, no one is going to give me the time of day if I have some desperate guppy hanging all over me. You can back me up from over there." She gestures behind him to the bar, and he nods. Thankfully he stays put as she shimmies her way through the crowd, bouncing her hips with each step, running her hands through her hair. Her eyes quickly scan the room, taking stock of her surroundings. A man approaches her from behind, suddenly very close, grinding against her and breathing down her neck. She tries to shrug him off, disgusted, but he grabs hold of her arms, effectively holding her in place. Kate groans, tries to think of a way to get out of this without drawing attention to herself, blowing her cover.

"Hey, get off me you perv!" She shouts it into his ear, even as she weighs her options.

"Oooh, fiesty one!" He chuckles, and before she can make her move, she feels him being pulled back, hears him grunt and turns to see Castle knee him in the crotch.

"Leave her alone!" He yells at the guy, and Kate looks around, panicked, hoping no one was paying too much attention. Thankfully the club is so packed full of people, and so loud – no one thinks anything is out of the ordinary. The grimy man disappears into the crowd, limping away and she turns to Castle with a murderous gaze.

"Castle! I told you not to do anything that could compromise our situation! Do you realize you could've blown the whole op?"

"I couldn't stand back there and watch him treat you like that!"

"I had it under control, Castle!"

He doesn't answer, just runs his hand over his neck and Kate feels a little of her rage subsiding. He was annoying as hell, but somehow also really… sweet. She sighs, touches his arm and meets his gaze.

"Okay, come on. Just walk far enough behind me this time. I'm going to head toward that back corner." She points to a corner of the room that she'd noticed before the pervert had tried to mount her. It draws her attention because of the great number of brazen women just standing around protectively, not participating. She slowly makes her way to that side of the club, dancing and swaying – trying not to turn and look at Castle. She knows he's close behind her, but she can't bear to see his face after the stunt he pulled back there, 'defending her honor' or something.

As she inches closer to the hoard of women she switches gears, shrugs off her blazer, exposing wide expanses of her smooth skin and runs her fingers through her hair again. She catches a glimpse of a man sitting behind the women, he's blond, sharp, and tan – no doubt the same man she saw on the security footage, with a woman draped over each side. The other women give her murderous glares, but move aside as she saunters up to the sofa in the corner, trying to hide a disgusted shiver as he uses his eyes to scan up and down her body, drinking her in.

"Well, well, well. What can I do for you, princess?" Kate grins, and sets her voice an octave higher before responding.

"I'm looking for something um… to make me feel" she giggles, "shiny?" The hardened man smiles at her and gestures for her to sit next to him.

"You want to feel shiny, huh?" He whispers in her ear and she nods, smiles at him again, her tongue pushing through her teeth as she flirts.

"How much we talking here?" His nose is pressed into her neck now, and she doesn't look up, but hopes Castle isn't watching right now. _Don't do anything stupid, Castle. I've almost got him. _Her telepathy must work for the time being because the pimp here seems to be buying her little charade, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out… a cigarette. Damn.

"Ohh, ummmm, just enough to last me. I can pay."

"You can pay, huh?" She nods, arches her back and runs her fingers through her hair again, twirling the ends through her fingers. She feels her stomach drop when he stands up, looks back down at her with slotted eyes and mutters under his breath. "Try again later, doll." He disappears through the crowd of women, and they chase after him as he weaves through the crowd. _Damn, damn, damn._

Castle suddenly appears at her side, and she stands up. She hears Ryan in her ear, asking her what's going on – telling her to get Castle and get out of there, and has she been made? She ignores them, reaches down for the blonde man's shot glass and shoves it under her arm, hidden by her blazer. She adjusts her stupidly short skirt, grabs hold of Castle's sleeve and drags him until they're all the way back out in the street.


	15. Chapter 14

It's just past 8:00 in the morning when Castle steps off the elevator and strides over towards the desk that Kate has made her own. He wonders if it's the desk that used to be hers, or just a spare desk that she's using simply because no one else is. He stops next to her chair and clears his throat after several seconds of waiting for her to look up.

"Good morning," he grins as he offers her one of the coffee cups he is carrying.

"Good morning," Kate replies with a smile of her own as she takes the proffered cup. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he leans down and looks at her computer screen. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for our man from the club on the last couple of weeks of video surveillance from some of the other places Taverner frequented," Kate explains. "Why don't you pull up a seat, Castle, instead of hovering over my shoulder."

Castle sets his own cup down and glances around the room until his eyes land on an empty chair a few feet away by the wall. He walks over and grabs it by the arms, then carries it over and places it next to one end of Kate's desk so he can face her when he sits down.

"So," he says as he plops into his new spot, "what is the guy's name?"

"We don't know yet," Kate explains. "We're still waiting on the fingerprint techs to give us something."

"How long will that take?"

"There's no telling. That's why Ryan, Esposito, and myself are going through the footage while we wait. We're hoping to find him at other places to show he was tailing Scott, which would help us get a warrant when the time comes."

"Well, where all are you looking?" Castle raises his eyebrows. "I was following the guy for nearly a month, you know, so I might be able to help tell you his hottest hang out spots."

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you about that, Castle."

"About what?"

"Why were you following him for so long? I've never worked a cheating spouse case for more than a couple weeks. I either find evidence or I don't, then close the case."

Castle shrugs. "Regina insisted I keep on him until I found evidence of the affair that she was sure he was having. I tried to tell her a few times that I didn't think he was having one, but she was adamant," he smirks. "I guess she just couldn't get enough of me."

Kate rolls her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure that's it," she says, her voice thick with sarcasm. "Anyway, does anywhere come to mind that you think we should check out that we may not have thought of ourselves?"

Castle ignores her verbal jab and mulls over her question for a few moments. "Have you checked his gym?"

"Ryan is looking at that footage as we speak."

"He really liked this one bar downtown called th-"

"That's what Esposito is going over."

"Well, what are you looking at?"

"His apartment building."

"Okay," Castle shrugs, "I guess I got nothing. He was actually a boring guy to follow. He pretty much went to work, the gym, and home, with the exception of the bar every now and then."

"What about when he went to the club?"

"What?" confusion spreads across his face.

"Well, we learned from Meech that Scott went to the club last Wednesday, three days before he was shot. Did you follow him there?"

"No, actually," he squints his eyes as he thinks back a week, "the last I saw of him that night was when he headed to the subway, and I assumed he was going home."

"You didn't make sure he went home?"

"He went in his normal subway station at his normal time at the end of the workday so no, I didn't make sure he went home. I made an assumption, one that I know now is wrong, but I made it nonetheless," he cocks his head to one side. "You know, it was the next morning when I first saw you come out of his office, and that was the day when he would have received the second call that supposedly shook him up. Did he act strange to you?"

Kate shakes her head. "That was actually the day he hired me so I had just met him. I didn't have a way of knowing what was normal behavior for him and what wasn't."

Castle sighs. "So pretty much if we don't get something from the shot glass,"

"We're back at square one," Kate finishes.

They both sit back in their seats and sip at their coffee for a while, and before they say anything else, Ryan walks up.

"So," he begins, "I've got bad news and good news that is kind of bad at the same time."

"Bad news first," Kate instructs.

"The fingerprints were a bust," Ryan pauses while Kate lets out a frustrated groan, "they didn't find a match in any of the databases."

"What's the not so good news?"

"The DNA lab managed to pull DNA from the rim of the glass and they got a match."

"To whom?" Kate asks excitedly.

"Well, that's where the bad part of the good news comes in," Ryan hands her a beige folder.

She opens it and skims over the information inside. "Um, Ryan," she looks up, "this is an obituary."

"Exactly," he frowns, "the DNA matches the profile of Franklin Kipper, a Special Forces solider who was killed in action in Somalia during Operation Gothic Serpent in 1993."

"Can I see that?" Castle holds his hand out to Kate, and she lets him have the folder. He gives it a quick glance and looks back at Kate. "This picture looks just like a younger version of the guy from the club."

"Castle," Kate takes the folder back, "this says that this man died a hero nearly two decades ago. How could he be the man from the club?"

"He faked his death," Castle replies as if it should be obvious.

"Why would he have done that?" Ryan interjects.

"A whole host of reasons," Castle shrugs, "he wanted out of the Special Forces, he turned into a double agent, he owned someone in the mob money and needed to disappear, he-"

"Really, Castle?" Kate scoffs, "You're seriously suggesting Kipper faked his death because he owed money to the mob?"

"I'm simply saying that it's not impossible that Kipper is still alive and going by another name. DNA doesn't lie, and being Special Forces would give him the training to pull off the murders we know he's committed."

"Hey, Esposito," Kate calls out, "can you come over here?"

He gets up and crosses the room, coming to a stop in front of her desk. "What's up?"

"I almost can't believe I'm asking you this," she sighs, "but could our shooter be ex-military? Special Forces, to be exact?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," he shrugs. "The skills he would need to pull off the shots could have easily been learned from Uncle Sam."

"See?" Castle lifts his eyebrows. "Kipper is our guy."

"Slow down, Castle," Kate holds a hand up, "I'll concede that it is possibility that we need to keep an open mind about, but we have no evidence other than a picture with some similar facial features."

Castle shifts forward in his chair. "Why don't we take a picture of both Franklin Kipper and our guy from the club to the places you're looking through footage and show them around? Maybe someone will have seen him around. It would be faster than scrolling through hours of footage."

"That's actually a good idea," Kate says, a look on her face that suggests she wishes she'd already thought of that. "Ryan, Espo, you guys go down to the bar and gym and show both pictures around, and Castle and I will take his apartment building and go back to his office. Maybe someone we spoke to yesterday will see the picture and realize they did in fact see him around."

"We should also show the picture of Kipper at the club too," Castle adds.

"Why?" Kate scrunches her face in confusion.

"We know for sure that our shooter hangs out there," Castle begins, "so if anyone recognizes him from the picture of Kipper, that will help confirm that they are one and the same."

"We'll go there if nothing pans out at the other places," Kate agrees, then looks back to Ryan and Esposito. "You two call us if you get any leads, and we'll do the same. Let's make copies of the surveillance photo from Taverner's office and this one of Kipper and head out."

* * *

"Castle," Kate sighs as she pulls the car to a stop, "you do realize that if anyone inside was here last night we're most likely going to be recognized once we go in, right?"

"It doesn't matter," he shrugs, "we probably aren't going to need to do another undercover operation, and if we do, we'll let the guys do it."

Kate lets a chuckle slip out. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Come on, Castle, let's get this over with."

They climb out of the car and Kate locks it before they head towards the front door of the club. They had struck out at Scott's apartment and his office, and Ryan and Esposito hadn't had any luck at his gym or favorite bar either. Since the club was the only other place they had to check, the guys were back at the precinct going through more of the surveillance footage. When Kate tugs on the front door, she finds it unlocked even though the club is technically not open yet.

"We're closed," a rough voice calls out from somewhere in the dimly lit interior, "come back in an hour."

"We're with the NYPD," Kate replies to the seemingly empty room, "we just want to ask the owner a couple of questions."

A burly, balding man wearing dirty jeans and a stained wife beater appears behind the bar. "That'd be me. Name's Lyle."

"My name is Kate Beckett, and this is my partner, Rick Castle."

"Look, I don't know what it is you're here about, but I don't want no trouble from the cops. I run a clean business."

"We aren't here about your club, Mr. Lyle," Kate walks over to the bar, and Castle follows her, "I want to show you a picture and see if you recognize someone who we think might be a frequent patron of yours."

"I get hundreds of people in here a night, sometimes over a thousand will make their way through, so I don't know that I can be of any help to you, but I'll take a look."

He pulls a pair of reading glasses from his back pocket and puts them on, the pads resting low on his nose.

"If you don't mind me saying," Castle clears his throat, "you don't really look like a typical club owner."

"Yeah?" Lyle holds his hand out to Kate and she gives him a folder holding Kipper's picture. "Well, you don't really look like a typical cop."

"We're consultants with the 12th precinct on a case," Kate butts in before Castle can reply, "but I did use to work in homicide there."

Lyle is about to open the folder, but pauses. "There ain't a picture of a dead body in here, is there?"

"No," Kate shakes her head, "it's just someone that we're trying to find as a potential witness in the case we're helping on."

Castle starts to say something, but a swift elbow to his side keeps him quiet. Lyle opens the folder and stares at the picture for nearly a full minute before looking back up at them.

"You know, I can't be certain, but this looks an awful lot like a younger version of a guy that comes here almost every night," he hands the folder back to Kate. "Matter of fact, he just might show up tonight. He's one of my most regular guys. You can wait around if you want, then you could talk to him if he shows up."

"Mr. Lyle," Kate begins, her voice laden with an excited hopefulness, "what's his name?"

* * *

"Hal Lockwood," Kate sits down across the table from the man they'd just brought in from the club, "we've been wanting to talk with you."

Castle takes the seat next to her and leans forward, resting his elbows on the table with his hands together. They'd waited almost an hour and a half before the blond man with a scar on his face had shown up. They'd approached him immediately and told him they were taking him in for questioning. He'd come along without a word, and so far he still hasn't said anything.

"Tell me," Kate continues, "do you know a man named Scott Taverner?" she waits again for a response that doesn't come. "Perhaps I should ask if you knew a man named Scott Taverner?"

Lockwood's blue eyes stare back at her, and other than blinking every few seconds, he makes no other movements and no attempts to speak.

"Look, Lockwood," Kate opens the folder she'd brought in with her, "we know you were hanging out around his office building, and we know he went to the club we brought you in from. So make this easier on yourself and go ahead and tell us how you knew him."

Once more the room is filled with silence as Kate and Castle wait for Lockwood to say something, and again he disappoints them. Kate lets out a soft, annoyed sigh, but it's Castle who speaks next.

"Maybe if we called you by your given name, Franklin Kipper, you'd be in a more talkative mood."

Lockwood's mouth twitches almost imperceptibly, but still, he says nothing. His disinterested gaze is met by two sets of frustrated eyes, and several moments pass before the door opens and Montgomery sticks his head in.

"Beckett, Castle, a word, please?"

They stand up, Kate more begrudgingly than Castle, and leave Lockwood alone behind the closed door, which Castle notices is guarded by a young uniformed officer. Before he can read his name tag, Montgomery starts talking, so Castle turns his attention to the captain.

"Listen," he frowns, "Lockwood is obviously not going to talk and we have nothing to hold him on."

"Sir," Kate argues, "even if Lockwood isn't our guy, I think he may know who is."

"But we can't keep him here," Montgomery reiterates. "He came in willingly for questioning, but he's not giving you any answers. We don't have an arrest warrant, so we've got to cut him loose if he isn't going to cooperate."

"Um," Castle interjects, "can't we just get a warrant based on the false identity?"

"We're already working on that," Kate tells him.

"Yes," Montgomery confirms, "but until we have that warrant, we can't hold Lockwood."

"So we let him go," Castle says excitedly.

"Why does it sound like you think that's a good idea?" Kate looks at him warily.

"We let him go and follow him to wherever he lives," Castle explains himself, "then, you can add his home to the warrant too. I mean, would that allow you to add his home to the warrant if you knew where he lives?"

"It would make it easier for us to get a search warrant in addition to the arrest warrant," Montgomery nods.

"I say we cut him loose then," Castle jerks a thumb towards Ryan and Esposito's desks. "Let them tail him so he doesn't see us in his rearview and bolt."

"That's not a bad idea," Montgomery starts towards their desks. "I'll fill them in and send them on downstairs to be ready to follow him. You two let Lockwood know he's free to go."

Kate lets out another sigh, this one full of dejection, then goes back into the interrogation room. Castle walks in after her, and he can hear the strain in her voice as she works to hide her anger.

"You're free to go, Mr. Lockwood," she turns and speaks over her shoulder. "Officer MacMillan?"

The young officer from outside comes in. "Yes ma'am?"

"Please escort Mr. Lockwood out of the building."

"Sure thing, ma'am," he looks at Lockwood. "Come with me, please sir."

Still silent and stoic, Lockwood rises from his chair and falls into step behind MacMillan.

"Damn it," Kate mutters once Lockwood is out of earshot. "I know he's our guy."

"I think he is too," Castle says, "but what make you so sure?"

"A gut feeling," she sighs yet again. "Unfortunately, a gut feeling isn't good enough for me or for an arrest. So we need to keep looking through the footage to get any more evidence we can to help strengthen the case."

"I'll order us in some food for dinner," Castle offers. "Chinese okay again, or do you want something else?"

Kate gives him a grateful smile. "No, Chinese is fine."

* * *

Almost two hours have passed when Castle lets out a loud yawn. Ryan and Esposito had followed Lockwood to an extended stay motel, and after getting his room number from the manager they'd come back to the precinct and reported to Montgomery so he could call it in for the search warrant they needed. There had been plenty of food left over for them, so once they were all full they'd gathered in front of the murder board to hash out the pitiful amount of information they had about the case. After more unfruitful viewing of the surveillance tapes and no way to add anything new to the case without something from Lockwood, it is evident that all four are tired and frustrated. Castle keeps glancing at the address up on the board for the motel Lockwood was staying in, and suddenly an idea forms in his head.

"Hey," he looks at Kate, "why don't I go check out Lockwood's place?"

"Castle, we don't have a warrant."

"I'm not a cop. I don't need a warrant."

"That would be breaking and entering, bro," Esposito jokes.

"So?" Castle shrugs. "You guys can just make the charges go away if I get caught."

"Castle, no," Kate says adamantly. "We wait for the warrant."

"I could at least just stake him out. You know, use my PI skills to keep an eye on him until we can bring him in."

"Castle, if Lockwood really is our killer, then he is a dangerous man, and now that he knows we are on to him, he will be even more dangerous. You are not under any circumstances to go anywhere near that motel."

He opens his mouth to protest, but is interrupted when Montgomery pokes his head outside his office. "The warrants should be in sometime in the morning. Why don't you all go home and get some rest. We can't really do much until we can bring Lockwood in and search his place."

Ryan and Esposito happily shout out a chorus of 'yes sirs' and 'thank yous' and 'see you in the mornings' to Montgomery, Kate, and Castle, and then quickly head for the elevator.

"Well," Castle turns back to Kate, "can I walk you to your car?"

"I've got a few things I want to run over one more time before I leave. Thank you though."

"Want me to stay and help?"

"No, that's okay," she smiles, "I'll just be a few minutes."

"I don't mind staying."

"Thanks, Castle, but I'm good."

He nods in understanding. "I guess I'll see you in the morning then."

"See you then." she replies. He starts to walk off but she puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Rick," she says worriedly, "promise me you aren't going to go to that motel."

"I'm going straight home," he assures her.

"Okay," she sounds relieved, "good."

"See you," he says as he heads for the elevator.

Once it arrives, he steps inside and presses the button for the first floor. As soon as the door closes, he smiles and pulls out his phone to plug in the address for Lockwood's motel into his GPS app.

"I'll go straight home," he says aloud to the otherwise empty elevator, "right after I stop by Lockwood's motel for a while."


	16. Chapter 15

Kate arches her back in a long stretch, admiring her white-board handiwork. Two pictures of Lockwood hang side by side – a service photo of the man back when he was still 'Kipper', and a recent snapshot that they'd pulled from the DMV records. She stares into the ice-blue eyes of the man in the photographs, wondering how the younger version could turn into such a cold-hearted killer. As a young man, he looks so eager, ready to take on the world. _What happened to turn you?_ She furrows her brow, studying the pictures as if they'll come to life, tapping her knuckles against her chin.

Soon. They'll know soon. Things are starting to come together; pieces are falling into place. Their job now is to connect the dots, find the evidence, find a way to pin this all to Lockwood and nail the son of a bitch. Her gut feelings are usually spot on, but a jury sure as hell can't convict a murderer based on that. They need rock solid evidence.

She knows there's not much more she can do at this hour,at least not until their search warrant comes through – that is, if it gets granted. Their grounds for a warrant were a stretch, but she thinks Esposito called in a favor. He'd given her a look when he shut himself in the break room while on his phone, a look that meant _don't ask, because I won't tell._ She'd nodded, trying to convey that she still had the utmost trust in him, because she did. She trusts both of her old partners with her life, and oh how she misses this – her old job. She sighs as she stares at the glossy photos on the murder board, lets that realization sink in and sit on her chest, aching.

She feels the urge to stick around for a while and rack her brain for details they may have missed. She'd always sought out that time after everyone else had left the bullpen for the night; she works best in the quiet and stillness. But, she'll work better without the fog, after some food and some rest to clear her mind of the cobwebs.

Kate turns and makes her way back to Ryan's desk, rummages through a drawer, the deep one on the side where she'd placed her bag that morning. She smiles to herself when she looks at the disheveled mess of papers below it, then closes the drawer, makes her way toward the elevator, headed home, but not rushing.

* * *

Her keys spin around her finger lazily as she rides the elevator up to her studio apartment, she's distracted, thinking about how much she's going to enjoy this evening – maybe it'll involve a bottle of wine, a book, and a bubble bath? _Ah, yes. A bubble bath. _It's getting late, but she always calls her Dad on Wednesday nights, and she knows he'll still be up waiting to hear from her. She throws her bag on the hall table and searches her phone for the familiar contact.

"Hey, honey." He says, picking up almost immediately. His voice is soothing and she detects a twinge of relief in the breathy tone.

"Hi Dad. Sorry for calling so late, but I've been working… investigating." She almost lets slip the fact that she's back at the 12th chasing homicide suspects late into the night, but catches herself, realizing that there's no need to kick her father's worrisome nature back into high gear.

"Oh? Still the scorned husband case?" He sounds genuinely interested in her work, and she sighs, concedes, unable to find a way to lie to her Dad after such a pointed question.

"Actually, yes. Only… he's been murdered. I've been working on solving his homicide."

"Katie – " He starts to chide her, and then catches himself. She can almost see the wheels turning in his head as he stops himself, trying not to treat her like a child. She knows that she was the cause of many of his sleepless nights after she joined the force, and no one was more relieved when she was kicked off. "Katie, just be careful. But, do what you have to do, do what you love." Kate feels her chest warm, deep in its core. She loves her Dad. He'd been through a lot, had hurt her in a lot of ways, but she knows she'd hurt him too.

"Thanks Dad. I'll be careful. I'm just supporting the Ryan and Esposito at the 12th anyway, can't do all the official stuff anymore." He chuckles at that.

"Glad to hear it, sweetheart. Those boys have always looked out for you." Kate feels a smile crack open on her face.

"I'm working with another private investigator too, Dad. You remember that book I made you read, _A Rose for Everafter_?"

"Course I do. You tried so hard to convince me that it wasn't just another piece of chick literature, despite the title. And you were right, of course." She grins into the phone, leans against her kitchen counter.

"Well, the author of that book, Richard Castle, he's a private investigator now. He's been working the case with me. And it's been… interesting." He laughs at her again, full-bodied and warm.

"Sounds like it's a lot more than just interesting. You must've read that book 100 times. I can hear it in your voice, Katie, you –"

"Dad – it's not like that. He's annoying as hell, keeps screwing with things in the investigation, but he's definitely made it more… entertaining." Her father just chuckles, and she feels her face flush with heat. "Okay, Dad. It's late, I'm going to let you go."

"Of course. Have a good night sweetheart, get some sleep."

"Night Dad. I love you."

Kate hangs up the phone and pushes off of the counter she's resting against. She suddenly feels so tired, the weight of the past few days catching up with her. She sets up her coffee pot for the morning, knowing that she'll need the extra kick from caffeine before heading back into the precinct, and saunters in to get ready for bed.

* * *

Kate stares at the ceiling, trying to will herself to go back to sleep, to fall back into the bliss of unconsciousness. But, ugh, she just _can't_. She finally forces herself to turn to look at her clock. 1:34 am. She was so tired, but she's barely slept an hour. Kate sits up, feels her mind reel and her body protest the movement. Everything feels dry and chapped. She stumbles into the bathroom and splashes her face with cool water. Surveying herself in the mirror, Kate tries to will herself into alertness. She needs to evaluate herself, decide what's wrong. Is she feeling sick? Is she just tired? Why is there a sinking feeling deep in her gut?

Kate walks back into her bedroom and fumbles for her phone, half hoping for an update from the precinct, and half dreading it. There's nothing. She still feels too keyed up to try and get back to sleep. Something just feels… off. Her mind keeps hovering around the vision of Castle last night, leaving the precinct to head home, with that childish glint in his eye. She struggles with the image that's plaguing her, but finally picks up her phone. She'll just call to check up on him.

The phone doesn't even ring, just sends her straight to his voicemail. _Relax, Kate. He probably turns it off when he sleeps._ She looks down at her pajamas, consisting of a too-long pair of gray sweatpants and a t-shirt, and sighs. She'll just go with it. She throws on a hoodie and slips on some flats, grabs her keys. She won't be able to get back to sleep until she knows for sure anyway.

Kate drives in circles for a few minutes, trying to talk herself out of heading to Castle's loft. It's crazy, she knows. _What will that look like, Kate? You showing up on his doorstep in the middle of the night, wearing your pajamas, hair bed-mussed? _She pulls over and runs a frustrated hand through her tangled hair, breathes deeply. Lockwood's motel isn't far from here, she remembers, and decides to head that direction instead. It's easier. She pulls up the address on her phone. Maybe if she makes sure that he's not there trying to stake out the place, ensures that he's home safe and nothing is amiss, she can get back to sleep without having to confront him. She pockets her phone and pulls back out into traffic.

Kate drives by the motel slowly. It's a slimy place, two stories tall, each with a long line of doors. She can see a lone light bulb flickering in the darkness from the office at the far end of the first floor. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. Everything is still and quiet. She doesn't see Castle's car, doesn't see anyone lurking in the shadows. Lockwood's room is dark and probably locked, and though she sees an array of cars parked outside the tiny motel, there's no way to be sure if one of them belongs to the sniper. She breathes deeply, trying to calm her nerves as she pulls away.

She heads back in the direction of her apartment, lost in thoughts that are mysteriously centered on a certain author-turned-private-eye. Her mind is crackling with energy, and she surmises that this case must be affecting her adrenaline levels. _That's it, Kate. It's this case - the excitement of hunting murderers again. It's what you were born to do. _She feels herself relaxing a little, some of the tension leaking from her shoulders.

* * *

Kate doesn't know when it happened, but she's parked under Castle's apartment building. She'd let herself take the turn down the street almost unconsciously, she'd let herself park – and now, now she just needs to see him. She's been sitting in her car for at least fifteen minutes, trying to convince herself to leave. But she can't. Not until she sees him. Kate jumps out of the car, slams the door, and takes the elevator up to the lobby before she can talk herself out of it.

The building's security officer gives her a wary look as she steps out of the elevator, and she gives him a sheepish smile as she steps up to the desk.

"I'm here to see Richard Castle? I'm Kate Beckett. He knows me. I don't know which apartment is his, but he knows me." The officer just stares at her, taking in her appearance, and Kate looks down at her disheveled state, blushes a little. There's no doubt what this looks like. "Uh..."

The security guard – his name-tag calls him Pete – cuts her off when he hands her a clipboard. She sags a little in relief, since the man obviously doesn't view her as a threat. She looks down at the clipboard and signs her name, notes the time – _2:40 am, geez. You're losing it, Kate. _She hands it back.

"Rick's in 401." She nods, and turns toward the elevator that will take her to up to the 4th floor when she hears Pete address her again, not even attempting to hide the amusement in his voice.

"And you two have a good night now, Ms. Beckett." She turns back and waves in Pete's direction, tries to hide her embarrassment. She's thankful when the elevator doors open for her immediately.

On the ride up, she rehearses the words she'll say to him in her mind. _"Hey, Castle. I just wanted to make sure you hadn't done anything stupid."_ or _"Castle, I know this looks weird, but I'm really just here to make sure you're still alive, you big lug, that's all."_

Kate groans as the elevator stops on his floor, she steps out and looks up and down the hall, a cop instinct that she still hasn't lost, even though she's pretty sure he has the whole floor to himself. She still steps lightly down the hall, and then she's standing in front of his large front door, thick and wooden. She knocks, hard, just in case he's asleep, and waits.

She waits for what has to be ten minutes, runs her hands up and down her thighs nervously, but she's come this far – she's not leaving until he answers her. She's not leaving until she can see that he's safe. She knocks again, but before she can finish, the door swings open. Kate stares into the sleepy face of Alexis Castle, rubbing her eyes, her long red hair tied up into a messy bun on the back of her head.

"Ms. Beckett?" Alexis yawns, regards her further, a quizzical look in her eyes.

"Um, hi. Alexis. Sorry to wake you up. I just need to talk to your father about something." Alexis' forehead wrinkles further, her eyes becoming more confused than before.

"Dad's not here. He hasn't come home yet. I've just been dozing on the couch, waiting for him. He said he was going to be home late, that you'd caught a break in the case."

Kate feels her blood run cold. She schools her features, tries not to let Alexis see her alarm.

"How long ago, Alexis – when did he call you?"

"It's been about three hours." Three hours. Kate feels her heartbeat pick up, can almost hear her blood rushing through her head. Three hours ago, Castle had left to come home. Three hours ago she had made him promise that he wasn't going to head off on his own.

"Alexis, he isn't with me, he left to come home three hours ago." Alexis' already pale face turns even whiter.

"Oh Dad!" Alexis says, her face twisting with worry. "I should've warned you – I should've known! He does this. He does this sometimes, but never in a situation this dangerous. He's always about bending the rules to get information, has to discover the story. He's gotten himself fired from cases before, but he's never –" Alexis chokes, can't get the words out. Kate steps forward into the loft and wraps her arms around the girl's shoulders instinctively.

"It's okay, it's okay. We're going to find him. _I'm_ going to find him. I promise." Kate whispers, but she can't help feeling that she is making a promise she doesn't know if she can keep. But she _has_ to keep it. She can't let him – she can't lose – Kate swallows back her own tears, breathes through it, clutches Alexis a little tighter before letting go.

"I'm going to wake up Gram." Alexis says, stoically. But Kate lets her go, nods at the girl, and then when she's sure she's out of earshot, takes out her cell and dials Ryan's number.

He answers on the third ring, the precious man. He still sounds completely asleep, and thinks she can hear Jenny's voice in the background.

"Lo?"

"Ryan, it's Kate. Sorry to wake you up."

"'S okay. What's the matter?"

She rubs her hand over the back of her neck, closes her eyes as she answers.

"Castle's missing."


	17. Chapter 16

Castle has a bad feeling that he really isn't going to like what comes next. He watches as the brute standing over him pulls one of his meaty arms back as far as he can, but before he can smash his bloody fist into Castle's equally bloody face, the door opens.

"Horace, that's enough for now," a vaguely familiar voice calls out.

The man treating Castle like a slab of meat turns to face the man still somewhat hidden by the shadows. "Boss, he ain't saying nothin' except to give me lip. He still needs come persuading, if ya ask me."

"I don't recall asking you, Horace. Now, why don't you take a break and clean yourself up. If I need you again, I'll call for you."

"Yes sir," Horace replies simply, then steps across the small room and around the man, pulling the door closed behind him.

Castle squints his one working eye at the man as he walks into the dim light from the single fixture hanging from the center of the ceiling. It takes a moment for his addled mind to recognize who he is, but when he does a small smirk forms on his battered face.

"Hal Lockwood," Castle coughs out, "just the man I wanted to see."

"And why is that?"

"I wanted to tell you that the bellhop at this hotel sucks," Castle pauses to spit out more blood, "and I ordered room service over an hour ago, and my food still hasn't arrived."

Lockwood ignores his statement. "Mr. Castle, as I told you earlier, this can all end if you'll answer a few simple questions for me."

"Right," Castle lets out a soft, wry chuckle, which turns into a short fit of coughing. "Because I'm supposed to believe that you're just going to let me go after all this, after I've seen your face and your goon's fac-"

"Oh no," Lockwood interrupts, "you misunderstood me. I said this would all be over, not that I'd let you go."

"And why should I help you if you're just going to kill me anyway?"

Lockwood doesn't respond as he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a wallet. Castle's wallet. He opens it and stares at something inside for several moments. "You have a beautiful family, Mr. Castle. It would be a shame if something happened to them."

Pain burns through Castle's body as he strains against the ropes that bind him to the hard, wooden chair. "If you go anywhere near my family, I'll kill you."

"Come now," Lockwood croons as he puts the wallet back in his pocket, "idle threats are beneath you."

"I _promise_ you that I will kill you if you hurt them."

"You're not a killer, Mr. Castle, and we both know it."

"Anyone can be a killer given the right circumstances," Castle rasps out, barely fighting off another cough.

"Perhaps you're correct, but really, we've gotten ahead of ourselves. No harm will come to your sweet little family if you answer my questions."

"You already told me you're going to kill me," he pauses, unable to hold back from coughing any longer. "Why should I believe you'd leave them alone?"

Lockwood shrugs. "I'm a man of my word, so if you cooperate, your family will mourn you, but that will be the only pain they feel."

Castle drops his head to collect his thoughts. He doesn't know what Lockwood plans to ask, and even if he knows the answers he doesn't want to give him anything, but he has to protect his family. _Maybe if I stall long enough, I can figure out how to get out of here. _He lets out a loud sigh, the pain of which makes him grimace, and looks back up at Lockwood.

"Can I go to the bathroom first?"

"What?"

"I don't know how long you've had me here, but I had three cups of coffee before you and your goons snatched me up," Castle explains, "and when Mother Nature calls, it's not such a great thing if she has to leave a message, if you catch my drift."

Lockwood stares at him in silence for several seconds. "Okay," he walks around behind the chair and leans over to untie Castle's wrists, "but don't even think of trying to escape. My men have this place surrounded, and you'd never make it to civilization on foot."

Castle has no way of knowing what is the truth and what isn't. For all he knows they are still in the motel he'd been staking out, but they could just as easily be in the middle of nowhere. He'd been knocked unconscious with an injection of who knows what, and he had no idea how long he'd been out of it before he'd woken up tied to the chair. Horace had been beating him off and on for what felt like hours, but again, his mind could easily be playing tricks on him. Either way, going along with Lockwood as much as possible is probably his best bet for making it out of this alive.

"Don't worry," he lies, "I have no intention of going anywhere. I still haven't gotten my room service order."

"Good." Lockwood responds as he finishes releasing Castle's arms, again ignoring his quip.

A relieved yet pained groan slips from deep within Castle's chest as he moves his arms. Sharp pain stings his shoulders and a deep ache throbs in his muscles, but he's grateful to be able to move. Lockwood comes around to the front of the chair and unties Castle's ankles, then steps back so he can stand up. It's a slow process, his knees are reluctant to straighten after being in one position for however long he'd been tied up, and every move Castle makes send a new wave of pain through his body. He finally makes it to an upright position and Lockwood places a hand on his shoulder and leads him towards the door. They step out of the poorly lit room into an even dimmer hallway, and Lockwood continues to direct Castle until they reach another door.

"You have five minutes," Lockwood opens the door. "Horace will be right outside waiting to escort you back to your room when you're finished."

Lockwood shoves Castle inside the small, dingy bathroom and slams the door behind him. He takes a quick look around the room, but there are no windows he can try to escape from, and a disappointed sigh slips from his lips. Although he'd had lied about the coffee, he really does have to go, so after he is done he turns on the cold water as high as it will go. There is no soap, but germs are the least of his worries right now. He lets the water run over his wrists and hands - the coolness is soothing to the abrasions from the rope. He notices for the first time that his watch is missing, so no luck at knowing how long he's been here. He glances up in the mirror and does a double take. As horrible as he feels, he looks twice as bad. Blood covers much of his face, and the top of his shirt is stained with it. His right eye is bloodshot and the skin around his left eye is growing dark, and his bottom lip is swollen and torn open in two separate places. He also has several gashes on his chin, cheeks and temples. He grimaces to himself when he imagines what the rest of his body looks like, if his face is this bad and yet has only received about ten percent of Horace's blows. He cups his hands together and bends over as far as he can without increasing the pain to an unbearable level, then gently lifts water to his battered face over and over, washing off what he can of the blood. A sudden knock at the door startles him and he jumps, and the resulting pain brings tears to his eyes. He blinks them back and then shuts off the water.

"Time's up," Horace bellows through the door, "let's go."

Castle reluctantly opens the door and Horace immediately grabs his upper arm tightly, then practically drags him back to where he'd been tied up. Without a word he forces Castle to sit back down, and reaches for the ropes by his feet.

"That's not necessary, Horace," Lockwood says as he walks out from the corner of the room.

Castle can see - even with only one eye - that Horace wants to argue the matter, but he keeps his mouth shut, takes several steps backwards and crosses his arms.

"Now," Lockwood comes to a stop in front of Castle, "are you ready to talk?"

Castle coughs a few times before replying, using the brief moment to think up another stall tactic. "How long have I been here?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Because I want to know how much longer I have to wait to be rescued."

Lockwood chuckles, a single little laugh, full of smug amusement. "You aren't going to be rescued, Mr. Castle."

"You don't know my partner," Castle smiles weakly, "but you soon will."

"I assume you mean ex-detective Kate Beckett?"

Castle swallows hard, but tries to hide his shock. He doesn't know if he's successful. "So, you do know her?"

"I know far more about her then you do, that's for certain."

"What, has she arrested you before?"

"No," Lockwood shakes his head, "we've never actually met."

"Then how do you know her?"

"She killed my predecessor. But enough about that. It's time for you to stop stalling like a scared child. I'll be asking the questions from now on." He waves a hand at Horace, who leaves the room and returns moments later with another chair. Lockwood takes it from him and sits down a few feet in front of Castle. "Now, I need you to tell me what the police know about me, and spare me no details."

"Look Kip," Castle smiles, stronger this time, "can I call you Kip?"

"No."

"Okay, Frank then."

"My name is Hal Lockwood."

"Whatever floats your boat, big guy," Castle shrugs, regrets the motion, then continues talking. "The police don't know anything about you. Why do you think they let you go? Because they liked you? No, it's kind of hard to like you with that sourpuss expression on your face all the time."

"If you think I'm here to play games, Mr. Castle, I can have Horace go pick up a little incentive from your home."

Castle's heartbeat increases, and the increased blood flow makes his wounds throb even more. "I would do anything to protect my family, so believe me when I tell you they have nothing on you."

"How did you learn the name Franklin Kipper?"

_I guess there's no harm in telling him that, is there? _"From a DNA analysis of your shot glass from the club."

"Why do the police think I know Scott Taverner?"

"Gut instinct?"

Lockwood sighs angrily. "That is the last joke you get to make without consequences, Mr. Castle, for my patience is growing weary. When you wouldn't talk to me at first, I thought some alone time with Horace would loosen your lips. It apparently has done so, but not in the way I wanted. Now, one more time, why do the police think I know Taverner?"

Castle licks his painfully dry lips before speaking. "They have surveillance footage of you at some of the places he frequents. You really have nothing to worry about. What little they have is circumstantial."

"Why are they concerned with Franklin Kipper?"

"He's supposed to be dead, but since you have his DNA, that either makes you somewhat suspicious," he stops as another fit of coughing overtakes him, "or it makes you a zombie."

Time seems to slow down as Lockwood launches to his feet and rams his fist into Castle's chin. Before he can fully comprehend what is going on, he is falling backwards, chair and all. He can't tell which happens first - the feeling of his head hitting the floor, or the sound of the sharp crack of the collision. The pain that shoots through his body all the way to his toes is the last thing he's aware of before the blackness sets in.

* * *

A strange noise brings Castle back from the empty silence of unconsciousness. His head is pounding - he can feel each beat of his heart throb in his temples. It takes a few minutes that feel like hours for him to untangle himself from the chair and sit up on the concrete floor. It takes even longer for him to figure out that the sound that had awoken him is the repetitive clipping of someone running in high heels. Then he hears a panicked, slightly hoarse female voice calling out something over and over. Cobwebs crowd his mind and he can't make out what she is saying. He forces himself to concentrate, a task that is not so easy since he feels like he is trapped in a fog. _Oh, _he finally realizes, _that's my name._ Another handful of seconds pass before it hits him that he should probably answer.

"I'm in here," he yells as loud as he can, which doesn't sound all that loud to him at all.

He doesn't get the chance to say anything else, because the door bursts open and he finds himself staring up at the barrel of a gun.

"Castle!" Kate holsters her pistol and runs towards him. "Guys," she shouts over her shoulder, "I found him," she drops to her knees beside him and gasps. "Rick," she whispers, then shakes her head, seems to steel herself, "are you okay?"

"I'm okay," he sighs out, "but I might need mouth to mouth, just to be sure."

The laugh that rips from her is full of relief, but her eyes are still heavy with what he can only interpret as worry. "I'll let Ryan and Esposito know to get right on that."

"On second thought," Castle lets out a soft chuckle, "I'm feeling better already."

Kate smiles briefly, then adopts a more somber expression as she reaches a hand tentatively towards him. She gently runs her fingers through his hair just above his ear, and Castle locks eyes with her. His breathing, though still shallow, evens out more than it has during the whole ordeal. His heartbeat speeds up again, but this time it's not from panic or pain. Kate lowers her hand to one of his and takes hold carefully so as to avoid contact with his rope burns.

Castle hears heavy footsteps coming and assumes they belong to Ryan and Esposito, and actually feels a pang of disappointment. He wants to get out of here, sure, but he almost hates for this moment, whatever it is that's happening between them, to be interrupted. When he hears the footsteps of the detectives enter the room, he refuses to look away from Kate.

He quickly finds out that he is mistaken about who has joined them in the room when freezing water is dumped all over his head and upper body and he is wrenched awake, this time for real. He shakes his head instinctively to remove the water from his eyes, and cries out when pain floods through him. He reaches up to the back of his head and feels a warm, sticky patch of blood soaked hair, and then looks up. Horace is standing above him, an evil grimace on his face and an empty bucket in his hand.

"Lockwood said it was time for you to wake up," Horace says, "he's tired of waiting around for answers. Personally," he shrugs, "I hope you keep on giving him a hard time."

"Oh yeah?" Castle gasps out. "Why's that?"

"So I can soften you up some more."

"There's not really anywhere you haven't softened up already."

Horace laughs. "My fists ain't the only tools I have to make you feel talkative."

Castle doesn't respond. He doesn't have anything to say. He's barely holding on to consciousness, and he fears for Alexis and his mother, so trying to come up with the words to answer Horace's threat is something he lacks the ability to do right now. He's been knocked out three times now, and so any chance of figuring out how long it's been since he was taken from the motel really is slim to none. The gnawing in his stomach suggests it's been quite some time, but he doesn't trust anything his body is telling him right now. All he can do is hope that it's been long enough for someone to figure out he is missing, and that Kate would have guessed where he'd been stupid enough to go on his own, and that they could find him from there. Because if a rescue doesn't come soon, it may be too late for one to come at all.


	18. Chapter 17

Kate pulls up to a chaotic scene outside of the motel. Two cop cars have beat her there, and Ryan and Espo run towards her as she stands on shaky legs. The dark sky flirts with a stripe of light, daring the sun to emerge. Kate breathes in deeply, trying to calm her shuddering nerves.

"Beckett, you were right – Lockwood's gone. Uniforms are searching his room now." Ryan says, his breath heavy.

Her vision starts to swim, she has to work to blink past it - try to hold it together; she's his only hope. She'd left Alexis at the loft, much to the girl's chagrin. She'd left her there, and now all Kate can see in her mind's eye is the pleading gaze of the redhead as she ran out, promised her that she would find her father. Promised.

"The last I saw him was when he left the precinct. I – I told him to go straight home, but he wanted to come check out Lockwood's place." She buries her face in the palms of her hands. "I should've gone with him, made sure… " Kate feels a stab of anger pierce her gut, as she chokes back tears. If she wasn't so damn worried about the man, she would be furious. "He didn't listen." She shakes her head, blinks. This is so unlike her. She's always the stoic one; always strong. She _never_ cries. Not in public, anyway. Kate curses inwardly for her display of emotion. She can't make eye contact with either of the boys, too ashamed to stomach their sympathetic looks. The two detectives wait her out, and she finally looks up, her features schooled.

"What's our next step?"

"Let's go wake up Lockwood's neighbors."

* * *

The sharp edge of grief rips through Kate's chest violently when she sees Lockwood's room. It's pristine, as if no one has touched it since housekeeping cleaned up after the previous occupant. Lockwood had probably never even darkened the doorway of this room, Kate realizes. He'd been waiting for one of them – and Castle had waltzed right into his trap.

The two neighboring rooms are empty, placing the closest motel guest two doors down. He is none too pleased with being awoken into a sharp hangover by the police squad, he complains of a pounding head and insists that he was out drinking, late, had only been asleep for a few hours - didn't know anything about any private detective. Kate feels the panic rising up in her with every inch of sunlight that spills over the horizon. Her heart races at the thought of never again seeing her favorite writer's cocky grin, the creases in his eyes that somehow make him look younger, jubilant. As annoying and infuriating as he is, being around him over the past few days had produced a kind of joy in her that she hadn't felt since the day her mother was taken from her. Shame it took his disappearance for her to realize it.

Kate runs a hand over her tired face and walks up behind the boys, they're standing under a lamppost for the extra light to make notes by, currently in the process of interviewing the motel owner.

"And you're _sure_, you were in the office all night long?"

"Yes, yes, very sure." The man looks dirty in his disheveled Hawaiian print shirt and shorts - his oily hair slicked back over several balding spots, his Arab skin sweating in the early morning light. "I sleep in the office all night."

Ryan nods, writes down the man's name and shakes his head in Kate's direction. He isn't giving them anything. She charges forward, stepping right into the man's space – desperation driving her, sparking an idea.

"Sir, you _have_ to know _something_. Did you hear anything? Don't you have any surveillance cameras on the premises?" The man looks her up and down before answering, and she shivers involuntarily, tries to hide her disgust.

"Yes, yes. We have cameras." Her face lifts, she feels the hope bubbling back to the surface.

"Okay." She exhales harshly, looks back and forth between her two former partners before addressing the man again. "Okay. We're going to need to get a look at your tapes from last night." The man stares at Kate, his glassy eyes indicating his clear indifference to the situation. She bores into him with her eyes. "_Now_."

"Alright, alright. I get them." He turns on a heel and walks toward the office again, Esposito following close behind. Kate's thankful for Ryan's decision to stick to her side. She needs his presence right now to help focus her. Kate doesn't look at Ryan, but knows that he's hopeful too, she senses it. _Oh, Ryan._ He wants Castle back as much as she does, doesn't he? Kate shifts her weight back and forth and runs a hand through her hair.

Esposito emerges as the sun reaches the top of the horizon, bathing the sky in light. He's holding a disc in the air triumphantly, wearing a smug grin. The corners of her mouth twist upward slightly. It's not quite a smile, but it's close.

* * *

At the precinct, the boys let Kate sit in the chair directly in front of the computer. The two detectives lean over her shoulder as she rushes through the footage at triple speed. The only camera on premises was outside of the office building, pointed at the parking lot, and there were definitely blind spots. Kate could only hope that they would be able to find something substantial within the grainy video.

The footage shows several cars coming and going over the few hours after sundown until – _wait_.

Kate abruptly reverses the video feed, leans in closer. She can feel the boys' breath on her ear, barely there, as if they're holding it in.

"Right _there_." Espo leans over her shoulder and extends his index finger to point at the car near the far left of the screen. Kate stares. It's a generic sedan, which could be Castle's car, but could also be absolutely anyone. She plays the video, slower, and watches.

"It's him!" Kate nearly screams it, her heart jumping in her chest when she sees it. The driver leans forward over the dashboard to look upwards, perhaps checking for activity on the second floor of the motel, and when he does, his silhouette appears in the light of the streetlamp, clear as day – wearing a fedora.

"That's his hat! It's his hat. It's got to be." The boys are silent as she continues watching the motion on the screen. Castle stays put in the car for a long while, fidgeting. _Oh, yes. That's definitely him_. Her heart stutters in her chest, she can't get a deep breath. Why can't she take a deeper breath? She needs more air.

She sees the moment Castle gets out of the car. _Stupid, stupid man_. He paces around the hood for a few minutes before disappearing from the frame. Kate's heart sinks. Is this the last she'll see of him?

He's out of the frame for nearly 18 minutes, Kate watches the time stamp as she fast-forwards the video, and stops quickly when she finally sees him come back into view. This time he's on the right side of the screen, the motel side. He's walking down the sidewalk, with a hulking presence of a man following right next to him, or behind him? Lockwood. Had to be.

"Holy shit." Espo whispers, and though it echoes sharply right by her ear, as soon as he says it Kate wonders if she'd imagined it.

Lockwood leads Castle to another car in the lot, this one parked so far from the camera it's hard to make out the shape. Kate narrows her eyes, as though finding Richard Castle depends on the sharpness of her vision, depends on her ability to see through the darkness of the film.

The car is cranked, and pulls out, performs a three-point turn before speeding off in the opposite direction of the camera. Kate rewinds. There's a plate. There's a plate there, and when the car backs up, she can see that it's a dark-colored Cadillac. Though she can't read the letters herself, she breathes a heavy, stuttering sigh laced with both relief and panic. The tech unit can decipher the plate; but Castle is in the hands of a madman.

* * *

Once they get the image of the license plate to the tech guys, it only takes them 15 minutes to blow up and enhance the picture – _bless them._ They really can process through things in a hurry when a life is on the line. Or maybe it was just Kate's demanding presence, yeah, it's entirely possible that the two young techies she talked to were merely afraid for their lives. Kate can't bring herself to feel anything but pride for that.

Tech hands her a large, much sharper image of the plate number: ZWT-737, and Esposito jots it down before she has a chance to catch her breath. It's a New Jersey plate. Could he have taken Castle out of state?

Within an hour, the precinct has distributed the plate number to uniforms all over New York. Ryan's on the phone with several New Jersey precincts, and Kate finds herself restless, pacing in front of their murder board.

_Why_ would Lockwood take Castle? The only explanation that makes sense to her makes her cringe, sinks deep into her gut, she dreads the very thought. Lockwood had to have been watching them, at least since DeLuca's shooting. He abducted Castle for information – it was the only logical choice. He had to find out how close they were to whatever the hell this is about. Kate growls, leans in close to Lockwood's picture on the murder board. Her only solace is the fact that Lockwood has no reason to kill Castle, unless he's uncooperative. _Please, Castle. Be cooperative. _Wait. Lockwood might kill him if he's _too_ cooperative as well, if he gives up all the information too quickly. _Just hang on a little longer, Castle. We're almost there._

Kate looks at her watch, finds that it's nearing 11 am. It's been about twelve hours now since he was taken, and the next twelve hours are crucial. Down to the wire. Kate needs sleep, she needs to take a minute to catch her breath, eat something. She should go home until they hear something. Every police officer in the state is looking, the neighboring states are on the lookout as well. Something will pop. She tells herself that something will come up soon. _It has to._

She's never been more grieved that she's not an official cop anymore. She aches to go hop in her cruiser, turn on the lights, drive down every street in Manhattan and question every passerby. But, she's stuck waiting. In limbo. She wonders if that's how Castle feels too, at this very moment.

* * *

"Beckett! We got a hit on the plates!" Kate jerks awake, angry with herself for dozing off. Esposito is jogging towards her and she stands, grabbing her coat from the back of the chair. Ryan appears from around the corner and finishes his partner's thought.

"The car was seen parked outside a warehouse in Queens –uniforms are staking it out." He huffs, winded.

"Let's go." She smiles at them, hopeful relief coursing through her veins.

* * *

They pull up to the warehouse after sundown, it's one of many warehouses on the desolate street in Queens, and Kate's heart leaps, her adrenaline kicks into high gear. She sees a guard standing outside of a stoop, looking back and forth, scanning for activity. The presence of the shifty looking guard causes more hope to rise in Kate's chest, her heart filling with the realization that Lockwood _must_ be in there – _Castle could be in there_. The Uniforms that have been staking out the place are parked a few hundred yards down the street, Kate can see their cruiser in the dim light of the lone street lamp.

"Great. Numb-nuts over there is going to cost us the element of surprise," Espo says, grimacing.

"We need a new plan." Kate thinks aloud, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

"Yeah. Wish we had Castle here to come up with a dumb idea." Ryan snorts.

"Guys." Kate spits out, her heart hammering in her chest, "I think I've got one."

* * *

The guys agree to her plan, and she's glad – she knows it's a Hail Mary, but it's the only thing that just might work and they don't have a second to lose. Kate and Ryan leave the vehicle; turn the corner, blundering toward the madman's sidekick. They're walking next to each other, and the guard takes notice, begins walking toward them warily. She giggles dramatically, turns toward the Irish detective. Their 'drunk couple' routine clearly isn't working.

"He's not buying it." She mumbles in his ear, and she starts to reach for her gun when Ryan stops her with a rough shove on her shoulder.

"You kiddin' me?!" He yells at her, loudly, his face contorted dramatically. Kate's shocked expression only spurs him further. "You crazy bitch!" He grabs her by the shoulders and shakes her – and only then does Kate catch on.

"Get your hands _off_ of me!" She yells, tries to shrug away from him, and glances over at the guard who is now watching their fight with rapt attention. She puts on a pitiful mousy look and ah –_ it appears he has a conscience._

The man makes their way towards them with a shout of, "Hey – leave her alone, will ya?" And Kate sees Esposito out of the corner of her eye, only seconds before he delivers a roundhouse kick to the back of the man's skull, sending him sprawling to the pavement. They stand there staring at the unconscious guard, then share a look between the three of them. Espo is the first to speak.

"Let's go save Castle."

* * *

As soon as they bang through the door, shots are fired. Kate hears them before she can see their origin, her blood pressure spiking. She enters the warehouse and is relieved to see both the boys ducking behind a shelf. The warehouse is massive on the inside, with rows and rows of shelving and boxes spread across the entire space. Perfect for gaining tactical advantage. Lockwood must have heard them, surely knows they're on his turf – that gunshot was probably a warning shot. _Hopefully_. She has to convince herself that Castle is still fine – will stay fine. She ducks behind a shelf opposite Ryan and Esposito and they catch their breaths before sharing a silent 3-2-1 countdown.

The three of them split up, ducking and running through the maze of storage boxes, each trying to get eyes on their suspect - or their kidnapped victim. Kate knows that a whole host of squad cars are on their way for backup, and she hopes they can have Lockwood in custody before anyone else barges in – they can't risk someone getting hurt. The guard outside could wake up any moment now, too.

Kate runs silently towards where she heard the gunshot, her gun leading the way, held in front of her, her beacon of protection. Then she hears talking. _Ah_. She eases around a shelf, slowly and – _there he is._

_Castle._

Lockwood too. They don't see her, thank goodness. Lockwood's back is to her, he's waving a gun in the air, his hand the only part of his body in motion, the rest of him standing as still as a statue. Castle is just beyond Lockwood, facing her. He's tied to a chair, his face bloodied and swollen, his hair matted, his eyes bruised. She doesn't dare breathe.

"Don't get me wrong, I want your friends to find us, Mr. Castle. I want them here so I can get rid of every last one of them. They mean nothing to me. Believe me when I say, I will not hesitate to kill them all."

Castle's face turns to a mixture of determination and fear. Kate's heart clenches. She cocks her gun.

A sudden sound to Lockwood's left causes him to jerk in that direction, pointing his weapon. He stalks closer, and then takes off in a chase after the sound. Kate leaps from her hiding place, and kneels down next to Castle.

"Kate! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm saving your ass, Castle," she says, frantically untying his hands and feet, "What do you think I'm doing here?"

"No, Kate – no. You're not supposed to – I didn't want you to save me _alone_. You might get yourself killed, Lockwood is – "

Kate shuts him up with a jerk on his wrist, barely hearing his pained grunt over the sound of her rapid heart beat. She stands and pulls him up with her. "Shhh, Castle, we have to get you out of here before the cavalry arrives."

She grabs his arm, turns, and startles as she hears another gunshot crack and reverberate against the metal walls of the building. The boys. She drops Castle's arm, reaches for her gun again.

"Castle! Go that way, get out of here!" She points toward the exit, and takes off, chasing the sound, the intensity of it still ringing in her ears. She has Espo and Ryan in her sights again within the minute, they're both ducking for cover, and she hears Lockwood stalking around the shelves, hears her own heart pounding even louder in her ears. Okay. It was another warning shot. She knows Lockwood isn't the type of guy who misses. She nods at Ryan and darts around a tall stack of boxes, silently. She can't see Lockwood, but she knows he's nearby. The three of them are going to try to box him in, trap him.

She pauses to listen, hears the metallic click of a gun and turns on her heel –

She sees Lockwood close behind her, suddenly stumbling - Castle on top of him. His gun goes flying while Castle's fists pound repeatedly into the sniper's face. Blood pools from his nose, and Lockwood smashes an elbow across Castle's head.

Almost as if it happens in slow motion, Kate sees Castle hit the hard cement ground, his head bouncing. Ryan and Espo simultaneously rush the now-unarmed sniper, pressing the barrels of their guns to his forehead. Kate hears the sirens of squad cars distantly, and falls to her knees next to Castle's head, tears blurring her vision.

She presses her fingers to his neck, feels the hot thrumming rhythm of his pulse, and sobs out a laugh in relief.

"Castle! Castle, wake up. Stay with me, Castle!" She cradles the back of his head in her hands until the paramedics shoo her away.


	19. Chapter 18

Castle opens his eyes - well, his right eye. His left eye is still too swollen for the lids to separate. The fluorescent lights above him are a stark contrast to the dingy place he'd been kept, and the brightness bites into his tired gaze, causing him to blink several times as his pupil adjusts to it.

"Dad! You're awake!"

Castle slowly turns his head on the miraculously soft pillow to look at Alexis, who is standing by his bed. He smiles, feeling a sharp pull from the two wounds in his bottom lip, but the joy on his daughter's face numbs the pain.

"Are you-" he pauses and takes in a deep breath, or tries to, but stops when pain wracks his chest. He groans out the little bit of air he'd managed to take in and continues speaking. "Are you really here?" he gasps out, afraid that he might be dreaming again.

"Yes, Dad," Alexis takes his hand and holds it in between hers, "we're really here."

"We?"

"Hey there, Kiddo." He turns his head to the other side of the bed and sees his mother smiling down at him, the expression an obvious attempt to try and hide the worry in her eyes. "You gave us quite the scare."

"Sorry," he lets out a weak chuckle, "I'll make sure I leave a note the next time I get kidnapped."

"Uh, there better not be a next time, Castle."

Castle looks towards the foot of his bed, where Kate is standing with her arms crossed, her face a mixture of relief, exhaustion, and a hint of frustration.

"Well," he replies, "if it means I get to wake up surrounded by three gorgeous women..." he trails off to avoid the cough he feels forming in his chest.

"I'm going to go tell the doctor you're awake," Martha announces as she turns and heads for the door.

"Dad," Castle looks back at Alexis, "what happened? How did you get kidnapped?"

"We were looking for a really bad guy," he answers. "I didn't listen to Kate and I went after him myself. Let's just say he wasn't too happy to see me snooping around," his brow crinkles as a question comes to mind. "How long was I gone? What day is it?"

"It's Friday morning," Kate tells him. "We found you late last night, so you were gone for almost a whole day, but we started looking for you just a few hours after you were taken."

How did you know I was missing anyway?"

"Kate came to the house to talk to you, and when you weren't there she figured it out."

Castle is about to ask why Kate had come over, but before he can the door opens and a man with kind, hazel eyes and well trimmed hair as white as the long coat he's wearing walks in, followed by Martha.

"Mr. Castle," he smiles, "I'm Dr. Steven Marshall. How are you feeling?"

"I hurt almost everywhere, but only if I move or breathe."

"Well, I'd like to go over the reasons why that is with you," Marshall glances at each of the women, "so anyone who isn't immediate family, I need to ask you to step outside."

Kate starts for the door. "I'll give Espo and Ryan a call, let them know you're awake and see if Lockwood's given them anything."

"No," Castle shakes his head gently, "you can stay," he turns to face Marshall. "She's my partner, she can stay."

"Castle, it's okay."

"I want you to stay," he rebuts, "if you want to, that is. I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you."

She replies only with a small nod as she returns to the foot of the bed. Marshall hesitates for a moment, but then flips a page on the clipboard in his hands and skims over it.

"You're quite lucky, actually," he begins, "you have two head wounds, either of which could have resulted in a subdural hematoma, but we saw no signs of any bleeding on the CAT scans," he looks back up at Castle. "The one on the back of your head was the worst of the two, but the cut didn't require stitches. Your, uh, partner informed us that you lost consciousness after hitting the side of your head. Did you also black out after the first head injury?"

"Yes, and I passed out twice before then. Once when they first took me, I was injected with something, the other time I was just knocked out by Mr. Fists of Fury."

Marshall nods knowingly. "That explains why there were traces of Ketamine in your system. That must have been what they used to render you unconscious just after taking you."

"Will that have any long term effects?" Alexis interjects.

"No," Marshall assures her, "not from a single dose."

Castle squeezes her hand and looks back to the doctor. "So, no bleeding on the brain. That's good."

"Like I said," Marshall nods again, "you were lucky."

"Or just hardheaded," Kate mumbles.

Marshall glances at her before continuing. "We stitched up the torn cartilage at the top of your left ear, and you have a total of another 32 stitches in the various lacerations on your face and chest. You have three bruised ribs and an assortment of contusions all over your torso. It seems the man who did this to you knew how to inflict damage in a way to ensure maximum damage without actually breaking any bones."

"When can I go home?" Castle asks.

"You've been asleep since we got through patching you up, so now that you're awake I'd like to keep you for a few more hours for observation, but if no new symptoms show up then you can go this afternoon. Do you have any other questions?"

Castle hesitates, almost doesn't want to ask so that he can stay awake and focused, but after a moment he gives in. "Could I have something for the pain?"

Marshall points to a small plastic device about three inches long that hangs from a cord over the handrail of Castle's bed. "If you press the red button on the end of that, it'll dispense morphine. It's pre-set to only be able to administer every ten minutes, so you don't have to worry about getting too much."

Alexis hands the remote to Castle, and as he fumbles with it he notices for the first time the wounds on his knuckles that are already starting to scab over. He presses the button and within seconds feels his pain subsiding, the relief flooding through him like a warm drink on a cold day. His eye flutters closed and he takes a few slow breaths, finding that he can pull in more air than before without so much pain restricting him.

"That feels fantastic," he sighs as he opens his eye again and looks at Marshall.

The doctor smiles. "Anything else you want to ask or do you need anything else right now?"

"No," Castle shakes his head once. "Thank you for fixing me up, Dr. Marshall."

"I'll have the nurses come and check on you often so we can send you home as soon as possible."

Both Martha and Alexis voice their thanks before Marshall turns and leaves the room. Castle looks at Kate, who is typing something on her phone. She finishes and notices that he is watching her.

"I was letting the guys know you were awake," she explains, "they say hello."

"Did you get Lockwood?" he asks, hope heavy in his tone.

"Yes," she nods, "he's in custody, but so far he's still not talking."

Castle suddenly feels a wave of exhaustion wash over him. He shakes his head to clear the cobwebs that are creeping in, wincing with the reappearance of pain that comes with the movement, then continues with his questions. "Can you keep him locked up this time? Did you find any new evidence tying him to Scott's murder?"

"We don't have any new evidence in the murder case," Kate sighs, "but he's not getting out. We can hold him on the kidnapping and various other charges. That's enough shop talk though. You need to rest."

"She's right, Richard," Martha pats his shoulder gently, the touch odd for her but comforting nonetheless. "You need to focus on healing, not solving."

"Mother," he slurs his words slightly, his body feels heavy, "I can't will myself to heal."

Alexis takes hold of his hand again. "No, but you don't need to exert yourself in any unnecessary way."

Castle starts to argue that he's fine, that talking isn't an exertion, but before he can form the words his eye slips closed once more and he gives in to the seduction of sleep.

* * *

Silence greets Castle when he awakens again, and after hitting the button on his morphine he glances around as best as he can with his one working eye. He smiles when he sees Alexis curled up on a small couch, more of a love-seat really, her chest moving slowly as she sleeps soundly. On the other side of his bed, in a chair that she has pulled up right next to him, Kate is also sleeping. Her head is lolled back on the top on the chair, the brightly patterned fabric a stark contrast to her shoulder length dark hair. He stares at her for a few minutes, then turns back to Alexis. His mother is nowhere to be seen, she's probably out searching the halls for a doctor to flirt with. As he watches his daughter, he feels the soothing effects of the medicine take him over once more, and he rejoins Alexis and Kate in slumber.

* * *

"Dad."

Castle hears the softly spoken word, but can't bring himself to open his eye.

"Dad, we got you some food. Can you wake up and eat?"

He now forces himself to look up at Alexis. She smiles before speaking again.

"Come on, Dad, it's been over a day since you've eaten anything, and Gram ordered in some of that soup you like from the diner down the street from home."

Castle takes in a breath, the deepest one he's been able to in a long while, but still grimaces with the pain.

"There's a button here to sit your bed up," Alexis continues, "do you feel okay to sit up a little?"

"Yeah," he replies simply.

As the bed slowly rises, he looks to the other side, where he sees his mother setting up the food on a tray that can be wheeled over to him.

"Where's Kate?" he murmurs.

"Out in the hall," Martha answers without turning around, "she wanted to call her detective friends and get caught up on the case. Now," she pushes the tray towards him, "less talking, more eating."

Castle doesn't even try to argue as she hands him a spoon. He takes a bite, and never in his life has broccoli-cheddar soup tasted so good.

* * *

When Castle wakes up this time, he finds himself alone in the room with Kate. She is standing over him, and he swears he sees a tinge of red brush across her cheeks when she realizes he is no longer sleeping.

"I thought you had an aversion to staring?" he jokes.

Kate chuckles. "Every now and then it has its place," her expression grows somber and she gingerly reaches up to touch her fingers to his cheek. "I'm so glad you're okay," she whispers.

"I'm sorry," he sighs, "I should've listened to you."

"Yeah, you should have," she grins, her mood light again.

"I'm glad you weren't hurt when you had to come after me. Ryan and Esposito too."

"They told me to tell you that you owe them one, by the way."

"I'll make it up to them somehow," Castle lets out a small laugh, then tightens his lips into a firm line. "I'll make it up to you, too."

She moves her hand from his face and lays it on top of his hand. "I don't have anything new to report. Lockwood still won't say a word."

"You'll figure it out, even if he never speaks up," Castle turns his hand over and loosely tangles their fingers together. "Him talking might save you some time, but you don't need him to solve this case."

"We'll find out, won't we?"

"Yes we will."

Castle takes a deep breath without thinking, and pain rips through his body like a wildfire. He shuts his eye and clenches his hand, accidentally trapping Kate's fingers tightly within his own. He lets go once he becomes aware that he is squeezing her, but she immediately takes hold of his hand again. He looks gratefully back up at her, but neither of them say a word as he presses his morphine button again. He can still feel the warmth of her skin against his as he drifts off to sleep.

* * *

It's been just over twelve hours since Castle first woke up at the hospital, and now he is all alone in his bedroom. The threats Lockwood made are still fresh in his mind, and he'd tried to no avail to get his mother and Alexis to leave after they brought him home. He's worried for their safety, and he wants them to stay at a hotel or even get out of town, in case Lockwood had partners, but they'd refused to leave him alone and he'd lacked the energy to argue for more than a few minutes.

He makes his way slowly into the bathroom, stepping over to the shower to turn on the water so it can get hot while he undresses. The grime and blood from his time at the abandoned factory had been cleaned off while he was being treated, but he still just feels so dirty that he wants to wash up again. He'd been instructed to avoid getting his stitches wet for two days, but he doesn't think he can get in and out of the bathtub by himself, so he's going to just have to be careful as he showers.

Castle sits down on the side of the bathtub and toes off his shoes. He picks up his right foot and tugs off his sock, then uses his toes to pull off the left sock so he doesn't have to lift that foot up. He reaches up to start unbuttoning his shirt, a slow, one-handed process thanks to his bruised ribs, which are still making it hard to move his left arm without increasing his pain level. Once the buttons have all been removed from their holes, he shrugs out of the shirt, letting it slide down his arms to the floor. He stands up and finds himself immensely grateful that his mother had brought him sweatpants, because they are much easier to take off. He grunts in pain as he bends over slightly to push his pants and boxers down far enough so they will fall to the ground, then he steps out of them and lets them sit by the rest of his clothes. He can deal with the mess later.

He crosses the room again, coming to a stop in front of his full length mirror. The cuts on his face are no longer surprising, since he'd seen the angry redness offset by the black stitches several times while at the hospital, but he had no idea of what awaited him under his clothes, and he can't help but let out a small gasp as he sees all the bruises on his chest for the first time. Deep blues and purples dot his skin, most of the spots the size and shape of the fist that had pummeled him for so long. He considers removing the white bandage that covers the cut just above his right pectoral muscle, but decides against it. Marshall had told him it about two inches in length, the torn skin held together by eleven stitches, so it'll be there for him to look at later. Since it will be harder to keep his chest dry than his face, Castle makes one last preparation for his shower by taping some cellophane over the bandage, so the dressing will be blocked from the water. With that done, he finally makes his way into the shower.

The water has filled the enclosed space with steam, and Castle adjusts the knob until the temperature is cool enough to be under, but just barely. He backs under the spray and lets out a contented sigh as the nearly scalding water runs over his sore, tired muscles. At first it stings his knuckles and the abrasions from the ropes, but that fades quickly. He simply stands there for what feels like hours, but is more likely around ten minutes, then grabs his shampoo from the shelf built into the wall. He moves slowly, having no reason to rush, and manages to lather up his hair quite well, even with only one good arm to use. Once the shampoo has been rinsed away, he debates with himself about the conditioner, deciding several moments later to forego it - he is operating one-handed, after all. It takes what feels like forever to soap up his body, save for his face and directly around his chest wound, but once he's done washing he lets himself just stand under the soothing water for another ten minutes or so before turning it off.

He gets out of the shower and pulls a towel from the rack, barely stopping himself before he instinctively starts to rub the water off his face. Glad he avoided whatever damage that might have done, he ever so gently pats his face dry, then runs the towel down his arms as best he can. He dries his chest, shoulders, neck, and his upper thighs, then hangs the towel back up. He pulls the plastic wrap off his chest and tosses it in the trash, then stands in front of the mirror again, examining his wounds some more as he lets himself drip dry the rest of the way.

Once he feels dry enough, he heads out to his bedroom to get dressed. Putting a pair of boxers and sweatpants on leaves him breathless with pain, and even though he wants to put on one of his soft tee-shirts that he normally sleeps in, he doesn't think he can get it on, at least not by himself. A button up shirt would be more logical, but pain can zap the logic right from a person's mind. He picks a shirt from the drawer and heads out into the living room, hoping Alexis or his mother will be out there and they can help him put the shirt on. He would normally be embarrassed to ask for help getting dressed, but his pain level keeps him from caring. However, once he makes it to the main part of the loft he finds it empty except for the person standing at his stove, stirring something in one of his pots.

"Hey," he calls out.

"Hey," Kate responds as she glances up absentmindedly and smiles, then goes back to paying attention to whatever she is cooking. She does a double take and brings her eyes back up to him, her mouth dropping open as she takes in the severity of his wounds. "Oh, Castle," she puts down the wooden spoon she's using, and walks around the counter towards him, "you look," her face scrunches up like she is struggling to find the right word, "rough."

"You should see the other guy," he grins and she rolls her her eyes, but then grins back at him too. "And, um, not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here?"

"I'm cooking dinner."

"I can see that. Why?"

She shrugs. "I wanted to. We all need to eat."

"You're staying to eat too, then?"

"Yes, and I'm staying the night. I already cleared it with Alexis and Martha, so no arguments."

Castle's eye widens. "I would never argue with you wanting to sleep over."

"Don't get any ideas, Castle," Kate wags her finger, "I'm here for protection, nothing else."

"Protection?"

"Yes, just in case Lockwood had partners that might come after you again, I want to be on your couch to keep you and your family safe."

Castle can't help but smile at their similar thought processes. "I won't stand for that, Kate."

"I said no arguments, Castle. I'm staying."

"I meant I won't stand for you sleeping on the couch."

"I'm absolutely _not_ staying in your room."

Castle swallows a laugh and forces a shocked expression onto his face. "Why, Katherine Beckett, I never. I simply meant that we have a perfectly good guest room you can sleep in."

"Mmmhmm, I'm sure that's what you meant," she hesitates, thinks a moment, "but thank you, that would be nice."

"Good," Castle nods triumphantly, "it's settled."

Kate smiles, then points at the shirt in his hand. "Um, do you need help?"

He looks where she is pointing, then smiles, the expression somewhat sheepish. "Actually, yes. Lifting my left arm is not so easy at the moment."

She steps closer to him and holds out a hand for the shirt, which he gives to her. Without a word, she slips the left sleeve up his arm, moving slow and steadily. She then carefully pulls the neck hole over his head, then taps his right hand as a signal for him to lift his arm. He does so and she helps guide it into the right sleeve, then pulls the soft cotton down his torso. They stand there, inches apart, staring at each other, her two eyes to his one. Their breathing is shallow, quiet, and Castle suddenly forgets about his pain. He wants to kiss her. He _really_ wants to kiss her, long and slow to show his gratitude for all she's done, but just before he starts to lean in, she averts her eyes and looks down. A chuckle slips from those beautiful lips, the lips he wants to make swollen with his thanks, and she looks back up at him.

"Nice Batman shirt, Castle." He tries to think of a retort, but before he can she backs away and heads towards the kitchen. "By the way," she says over her shoulder, "I hope you like spaghetti. I'm making my mom's sauce and it's to die for."

"Sounds perfect," he makes his way over to the counter and slides onto one of the barstools so he can talk to her while she works. As he thinks about what it must mean for her to share something of her mother's, he suddenly remembers something Lockwood said. "Kate, Lockwood told me that he knows you."

"He must have been lying. I've never met him before this case."

"No, he said you'd never met, but that he knew all about you because you'd killed his predecessor," he hesitates, worries about what he's about to say might affect her, but decides to barrel on. "I was wondering if it would be possible to pull your old case files that involve a suspect dying and see if we can find a connection of any sort to Scott Taverner's murder."

Kate looks up from the stove, and he's not sure how she's taking the suggestion. "Castle, that could be a case breaking lead!"

"Yeah?" he sighs with relief at her excitement.

"Yeah," she smiles and starts stirring again. "We'll get the guys to start pulling the files tomorrow."

"Awesome," he gets up and joins her on the kitchen side of the counter. "How about I make some garlic bread to go along with the spaghetti?"

"Do you feel up to it?"

"If you get the stuff out for me, then yes. I can stand here and make it."

"Just tell me where it is then."


	20. Chapter 19

Kate stares at the ceiling, closes her eyes, but they feel scratchy, cottony. She hasn't slept long, only a couple of hours, but some phantom noise has awakened her, and she lays in the sinfully comfortable bed in Castle's spare room, frustrated with herself for not being able to rest. Thoughts of Castle flood her mind – the panic she'd felt after realizing he was missing, the look on Alexis' face, the guilt that knotted in her stomach throughout the day, the relief that flooded her when she'd found him alive.

She rolls over, tries lying at a different angle, shifts back to her side. She's suddenly burning up, nearly sweating, and she kicks the comforter off, letting it pile at her feet. The cool air of the room hits her skin, reminding her of the bumps and scratches that had appeared on her body somehow in all the excitement just a few hours ago. She'd discovered them when she'd utilized Castle's guest room shower earlier, but had no specific recollection of when she'd gotten them.

Castle is so much worse off than she is.

_Castle._

She needs to see him, just to make sure he's still okay, still with her.

Her legs are hanging over the side of the bed before she knows it, before she can control it, and she's walking out the door, down the stairs, answering the beckoning draw of him. The door to his bedroom is open, and she hears the heart-stuttering sound of his soft snores. He's alive, he's breathing.

Kate steps into his bedroom, her socked feet noiseless across the carpeted floor, but she stops a few steps in, satisfied as soon as she can see his face, his hair sleep-mussed and falling long over his forehead. She stands for a while, watching the giant lump of him slowly raising and lowering with the rhythm of his breath, before her exhaustion sets in, and she sinks to sit on the floor, needing to keep him in sight a little longer. She recognizes the pang in her gut as guilt. She can't let him slip away from her again.

* * *

"Kate. Kate, wake up."

The whispered words rouse her slowly. Kate isn't sure if she's still dreaming or not when she blinks her eyes open and sees him crouching in front of her in the darkness, his fingers resting lightly on her shoulder.

"Kate, what are you doing down here? Your neck is all twisted… it's going to be sore."

Kate sits up, blinks into total awareness before answering.

"I'm fine, didn't mean to fall asleep." She grumbles the words out, and he looks at her with concern. She blushes, feeling the heat spread across her face and suddenly she's very thankful for the intense darkness of the room.

"Just came to check on you – " she stammers, breaking away from his luminous eyes in the blackness. "How are you feeling?"

He huffs a laugh and stands, grabbing her hand lightly to pull her up with him.

"My head is killing me, and crouching down wasn't exactly my best idea ever, but – I'll live." He wants her to laugh, but. It's not funny. It's not funny at all.

Kate looks at the contours of his swollen face, her eyes adjusting. She tries to concentrate on studying the discoloration of his bruised skin, but he's smiling at her ridiculously and she can't. She just can't.

"This looks like it hurts." She whispers, softly running her fingers over the places under his eye, and it comes out breathier than she intended, more tender.

"Can't even feel it." He whispers back, but she thinks he's lying. He has to be. "But I need to lay back down," he says, and she realizes that he's swaying on his feet a little. She nods, guides him backwards until he's lying back down on the bed.

"Do you need some more pain killers? Water?"

"I just took some, actually. I'm good." She nods again, and turns to leave, but feels his fingers tugging her back, gentle and insistent. "Kate, stay in here with me." _Ha, his painkillers must definitely be kicking in._

"In your dreams, Castle," she bites back, wincing at her own sudden harshness, but she only hears him chuckle in the darkness.

"You're already in my dreams. All the time." With his admission, Kate feels her heart plummet into her stomach. "But I'll probably sleep better with you in here keeping an eye on me – and I'm willing to bet you'll sleep better too." She can't argue with that. "Don't worry, no funny business. My head hurts too much."

She laughs at his dramatic whine and wordlessly makes her way to the other side of the bed, climbing in and making sure she puts as much distance between their bodies as possible.

* * *

She can't get comfortable. Kate's hyper aware of his body and the way he's breathing beside her and she can't relax. She flips around to her stomach – slowly, carefully, trying not to disturb him and –

"Do you ever stop moving?"

_Crap._

"Sorry, I thought you were asleep."

"Can't sleep. My brain is… too wired? I don't know." She laughs at that, burrowing her face into the pillow.

"Castle, I think your brain –" she lifts up on her elbows to look at him, and it feels – intimate, her heart gallops in her chest as she relishes the sight of him. "… is _always_ wired."

She expects him to argue back but he doesn't, just sits up, looks down at her, and then turns to leave the bed entirely.

"Where are you going?" she asks.

"To the kitchen. I figure it's still too early for coffee, but maybe I can at least make us some hot tea."

He heads into his study, the small amount of light from the living room framing his body in silver as he disappears from view. It doesn't take her long to stumble up to follow, her face splitting into a smile.

* * *

The tea feels like heaven on her tongue, hints of lemongrass and – is that ginger? Chamomile? Either way, it relaxes her, makes her feel lithe and boneless.

"Good?" Castle asks from his perch on at barstool, sticking his tongue out to tentatively lap at his tea like some kind of animal. He's turned on only the stove light, and she can't decide if the soft artificial glow makes him look better or worse.

"It's perfect, thanks."

"Of course." They sip their tea in silence. Surprisingly, this isn't as awkward as Kate had expected, and the normality makes her feel grounded, makes her bold.

"Why did you only write one novel?" Kate blurts out gracelessly, but she wants to know and it feels like the right time to ask. Castle turns to her as though he's completely unsurprised by her random question. Kate carefully weighs her words, not yet wanting to reveal just how much she loves his novel. "You could've written more… even after you became an investigator."

"I tried to write others, but they were flops. Just wasn't… inspired enough." Kate nods, satisfied with that answer, but Castle continues, "I wrote _A Rose for __Everafter_ in my 20's. I was in love, the words just came." Kate doesn't answer, watches him run his fingers around the rim of his mug. "Her name was Kyra. We were together for two years after college."

"I… didn't ask." Kate says, a little embarrassed by his honesty.

"I know," he grins at her now, entirely too pleased with himself. "You were 'not asking' very loudly." She rolls her eyes at him, would slap him if she didn't think it would hurt.

"I could write another best-seller, I think. I had a great idea last night." She raises her eyebrows in question. But he doesn't continue.

"Go on. I'm intrigued," she nudges.

"Okay, fine… but you have to promise not to shoot me!"

"Castle, I think you're injured enough already." He's still looking at her warily.

"I want to base a character on you." Kate chokes on nothing, tries to get words out. "Hear me out, Beckett, not _about_ you, just _based_ on you. It could be another best-seller… you could be my muse."

Kate clears her throat, he's wincing at her. "Castle. Call me a muse again, and I _will_ break both of your legs, previous injuries aside."

"Maybe I'll just stick to private investigating."

"Good thinking."

Kate turns back to her tea, happy with the easy silence they've fallen back into, but she can see his fingers in her peripheral vision, restlessly tapping against the countertop.

"_Castle_. Something bothering you?" She gestures toward his hand, and it stops moving immediately, mid-air.

"Sorry. Just – how many times did you shoot somebody while you were on the force, Beckett?"

"Wow, Castle. When I said you should stick to private investigating, I didn't literally mean _right_ now." She's deflecting and she knows it, and he knows it too, but he laughs anyway. "Too many," she answers, finally, her tone turning serious again. "I figure tomorrow we can pull all the cases I was involved in where someone was killed."

"But Lockwood said that _you_ had killed his predecessor –"

"I know. I just want to cover all our bases." She doesn't want it to have been her, doesn't want to have to parade all the men she'd killed during her years on the force in front of Castle, doesn't want to scar him like that, he's – full of light.

"After I was kidnapped," he starts, morbid thoughts obviously weighing heavily on his mind, "I thought I was going to die." She winces at his words, feeling some level of guilt for dragging him into this pit.

"But you didn't." He nods at her, lifts his eyes to meet hers.

"I didn't. But I really thought," he pauses, and Kate considers interrupting him again, changing the subject and chasing away this line of conversation, but she abandons the idea when she hears the hitch in his breathing, realizes that he's getting choked up. He takes a long sip of his tea, shudders in a deep breath.

"Kate, I thought about a lot of things in those 24 hours, about Alexis and my mother, and things in my life I wished I'd changed. But the one thing that stayed in my mind the entire time, pervading all other thoughts, was… _you_."

Kate hopes she doesn't look as stunned as she feels. She's taken aback not only by his words, but by the shift in his demeanor. Gone is the teasing, sweet, irritating, immaturity that has defined his personality for the past week – instead he's looking at her with a feral stare, deadly serious.

"Wh – wha?" It's all she can stammer out.

He doesn't answer, just leans close enough for his breath to mingle with hers. She's stuck, still as a statue while his mouth covers hers, moves, tender, but aggressive; claiming. When he eases her lips apart with his tongue she finally comes alive – her hands reaching to claw at his scalp, the pads of her thumbs circling the soft skin of his ears. She runs her tongue across the roof of his mouth and feels him moan, it sets her alight. She's vibrating, spinning, clutching him. She loses all sense of time, has no idea how long it's been when he backs off first, releasing her mouth with a pop, tentatively gulping in air.

"Easy, Beckett. I'm still suffering from a head injury." He chuckles into her ear and she finally opens her eyes, stares at him, he looks…. _fine_. Completely fine. While her blood is streaming with white, hot panic.

_What… had they just done?_

Castle stands up and tries to clean up their tea mugs, but he looks exhausted and Kate needs time to process whatever just happened.

"I'll… get those." She says, the words uttered through kiss-swollen lips. "You need to go back to bed, let me." He looks at her with consternation in his eyes, but nods, and much to Kate's relief, concedes.

"Besides, we need to get up early tomorrow, head back into the precinct and go through those files." He doesn't say anything more than a "Goodnight, Kate". And yes, it's technically morning, but the words flicker warmly in her chest anyway. She loads the mugs into the dishwasher and climbs the stairs, escaping into the solace of the guest room.

* * *

"I miss this." Esposito jabs at her, sarcasm lacing every syllable. "Waking up to sound of my cell phone alerting me that Beckett wants to drag me into work first thing in the morning on a _Saturday_."

"Yep, just like old times." Ryan counters, seemingly annoyed, but his face gives him away. Kate grins back at the two of them, widely. They miss her just as much as she misses them.

"And dude. You look rough." Epso says, turning to Castle – and yeah, he does, but he looks so much better after some sleep - so much better than last night. She clears her throat and her two former partners give her their full attention.

"I brought you in to help us look through some files. We need you to pull the files from these cases." She hands the detectives a list as they sit down around the conference table, and they lean in and read it through quickly, furrowing their eyebrows.

"What do these have to do with Scott Taverner?" Ryan asks, "They're all cases that you were involved in, Beckett."

"They're all the cases that I was involved in where someone died."

"Ahem. Someone always died, Beckett. You worked _homicide_." Castle says, and she cuts him a death glare for being a smart aleck. He ignores her and continues speaking, addressing her former partners. "When Lockwood was using me as a human punching bag, he said something interesting – he said that Kate had killed 'his predecessor.'" Castle punctuates his last words with air quotes, and the boys look at him quizzically.

"His predecessor?" Ryan repeats, and Espo jumps in with, "So, you think Lockwood may have connections with someone that Beckett killed? "

"Or someone that was killed while I was on the job." Kate adds quickly. The boys exchange glances, bring their attention back to the two private investigators.

"Well, what are you waitin' for bro?" Espo says, gesturing to Ryan, "let's go pull these files."

* * *

Kate's eyes are good and fuzzy when she finishes reading over the last file. Ryan and Esposito are suspiciously silent, and Castle just looks tired.

"Javi." She says, and the man in question looks up at her, feigning innocence. "Where's my Mom's case file?"

"Oh, come on Beckett," he answers quickly, "You can't honestly think that this has anything to do with your Mom's case?"

Kate feels her face flame, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

"We've looked through _every file_, and we've found _nothing_. We can't rule it out." Espo looks like he's going to try and argue with her further, but he doesn't, he holds his tongue and heads out to pull the file. She feels a clenching anticipation and dread settling in her stomach. Castle, to his credit, stays blessedly silent as they wait for Esposito to return.

He walks back in the room a few minutes later, his arm outstretched, and Kate snatches the file from his hand, opening it quickly. The sight of her dead mother's picture sends her spinning, intense emotions hit her like a freight train, and she feels nauseous.

"Castle, will you – " She doesn't know why she chooses to hand the file to him, her mind questioning it even as her fingers slide it into his. Ryan and Esposito exchange glances while Castle opens it like he knows exactly what she needs him to do.

She watches him as he reads through the file, imagining the thoughts that are going through his head as he takes in every sordid, vulgar detail, feels a lump forming in her throat. His eyes give away nothing as they skim over the information at a rapid pace, moving pages around and squinting intermittently. Ryan and Esposito sit silently across the table.

"Kate," Castle lays the file back down on the table after several minutes, hands her a sheet of paper, "what about this?" She studies his eyes for clues as to what she'll find on the paper, sees nothing there but compassion and concern. For _her_?

The page is background information for Dick Coonan.

"The man you had to shoot was in the Special Forces. Wasn't Lockwood in the Forces too?" He says, directing the question at her, as well as both detectives.

"Dude, he sure was! Under the name Kipper, if I remember correctly." Espo digs through his file excitedly, pulls out the picture of the young soldier before he bore the name Lockwood.

"I'm willing to bet they were in that same branch at around the same time…" Castle adds, and Ryan jumps up, heads out to the bullpen to do some research with an "On it!"

Kate still stares at the photo of Dick Coonan in front of her, can't stop herself from reliving that day - remembering how it felt to shoot the man in order to save her captain's life. Recalling the hot spurts of blood that covered her hands when she tried in vain to keep him alive, the sharp metallic smell of it - the tears that had trailed down her face and blurred her vision, barely letting her see the man slip away from her – the man who had caused her life to spin out violently of control.

She feels the weight of Castle's hand on her shoulder, and her first instinct is to shrug it off, but she doesn't. The deep pressure helps ground her.

"Castle?" She whispers, her voice wavering. She looks away from the picture and up at him, sees his face etched with concern. "Whoever is behind Scott's death… could be connected to my Mom's killer."


	21. Chapter 20

Castle all but forgets his physical pain when Kate utters those words. Her whole body seems to sag with the weight of her statement, the thought that the worst case of her career has come back to haunt her again. He slides his hand off her shoulder and down her arm, stopping at her wrist. He wraps his fingers gently around the smooth skin and tugs lightly.

"Come on, Kate. Let's take a break. I'll fix you a cup of bad coffee."

Kate glances over at Esposito, who nods at her, telling her wordlessly that she should go. After she slowly makes her way to her feet, Castle releases his hold on her wrist and follows her out of the room. They walk past Ryan, but he doesn't acknowledge them - he's got his nose buried in something on his computer. As they make their way into the break room, Castle notices Esposito pulling his chair up next to Ryan.

"Let me make the coffee," Kate points to the couch, "you go sit. You're pushing yourself too much. I promised your mother and Alexis that I wouldn't let you over exert yourself."

"I'm fine, Kate."

"Go. Sit. Down."

Castle sits down. He watches Kate busy herself with brewing a new pot, not that freshness will help the flavor much. She gets two mugs ready and then stares at the slowly dripping liquid. A few seconds later she lowers her head slightly, then reaches up with both hands and starts rubbing her neck. Castle picks himself up off the couch, strides across the room, and lifts his right arm up to push her hands away. He starts making circles with his thumb, kneading the knotted flesh as best he can one handed. She lets out a contended moan, then her head snaps upright and she spins around to face him.

"Why aren't you sitting down?" she demands.

"Hush, and turn back around," Castle tries to turn her with a hand on her shoulder, but she doesn't budge.

"No, Castle," she shrugs his hand off and crosses her arms. "I promis-"

"I know what you promised," he interrupts her, "but I'm a big boy, and if I want to stand over here by you, then I'm going to stand over here by you."

"Aren't you in pain?"

"Yes," he nods, "but it hurts just as much to sit as it does to stand."

Kate sighs. "Maybe they were right, maybe you should've stayed home. The head injuries or bruised ribs alone are enough to keep you at home, and you have both, plus all your other wounds and bruises. I should have sided with them this morning."

"Kate, I'm _just_ as invested in this case as you are. I've bled for this case, risked my life for it, and if you think I'm just going to sit at home while you and the guys do all the work to solve it, you need to think again."

"None of that would've happened if you'd just stayed away in the first place," she hisses, "I tried from the day you were arrested to get you to stay out of all this, but _no, _you're the great Richard Castle and you do whatever the hell you want without taking a second to think about how your actions might affect the people in your life that care about you!"

"It's not like I could have known I was going to be kidnapped!"

"I told you that Lockwood was dangerous. I told you _not_ to go anywhere near him or his motel. Castle, if we hadn't found you in time, he would have killed you. You told me yourself you thought you were going to die," she drops her arms back to her sides. "Does that not bother you? Knowing you almost died?"

"Yes, it bothers me, but I didn't die, so why focus on it? I'm alive, my wounds will heal, I'm doing good work here, with you."

"Don't you feel guilty?" her tone is less angry, her voice wavers.

"Guilty? About what? Being beaten? Finding a lead? I don't feel guilty, Kate, I feel lucky," he pauses, studies her, and comes to a realization. "Do you feel guilty?"

"Of course I do! If you had died, I-"

"But I didn't die, Kate," Castle interrupts her, "and even if I had," he steps closer to her, lowers his voice, "that would have been my fault, not yours. I made the decision to go to the motel, and I made that decision on my own. Just like I decided to be a part of this case."

"What about Alexis?"

"What about her?"

"You'd have left her without a father."

Castle swallows hard and licks his lips. "Kate," he stops, unsure of what to say. This is obviously not just about him, it's about her mother too, even more so than him. "Kate, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't listen and that I forced myself onto the case against your wishes," he holds up a hand to stop Kate when she opens her mouths to respond. "Most of all, I'm sorry that you're having to open up old wounds. I'm sorry that your mother's case might be involved with this one. I know you thought it was over, and I hope it is, but I promise you," he reaches out and takes her hands in his, "if there is even the smallest connection between this case and your mother's murder, we will find it."

"I thought I'd solved her murder," she bites her lower lip, "but if Coonan was working for someone instead of acting on his own, I didn't solve it at all," she meets his still half swollen gaze with doe-like eyes. "I let her down, Castle."

"No you didn't, Kate," he shakes his head, wincing slightly from the pain the motion brings. "You didn't have a chance to find out that Coonan was working for someone, if that's even true."

She doesn't respond, just stares at him in a pondering silence. Castle wants to cheer her up, make her frown go away. So he does the only thing he can think of. He tries pushing her buttons.

"You know," he begins, "you're really cute when you're angry. I just wish you weren't angry with me."

"Castle," she sighs, "I'm not -"

"It was a joke, Kate," he cuts her off. "I mean, you _are_ cute when you're angry, it's mostly because of the way your forehead wrinkles, but I was just trying to...okay, it was a lame joke."

"It was lame," Kate smiles briefly, "but it was kind of sweet. The idea was, anyway."

"Yeah?" Castle grins. "So, are we good?"

"We're good, Castle."

"Good enough for another kiss?" he raises his eyebrows.

"Don't push it, pal," Kate pulls a hand from his and wags her pointer finger at him, "I only let you get away with that last night because you'd had bad day and were under the influence of powerful pain medication."

"For someone who was just 'letting me get away with it', you sure seemed to enjoy the kiss."

"Don't flatter yourself, Castle," Kate smirks, "I just got caught up in the moment."

"You keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, but you were clinging to me like stink on a skunk."

Kate doesn't get a chance to respond before Ryan and Esposito barge into the room and look back and forth between Castle and Kate for a moment.

"Uh," Esposito grins, "are we interrupting anything?"

Castle's "yes" is nearly drowned out by Kate's "no".

Ryan clears his throat and nods at their still connected hands, and Kate tugs her remaining hand away from Castle. He misses the contact immediately, and he doesn't care how much that makes him sound like a high schooler pining after their latest crush.

Esposito looks at his partner knowingly, then turns his attention back to Castle and Kate. "We found something that you guys are going to want to see."

"If you aren't too busy, that is," Ryan chuckles.

"We aren't too busy," Kate replies harshly, but Castle can tell from the guys' reactions that he isn't the only one who sees the corners of her mouth turn upwards. "What do you got?"

"Come check these records out," Esposito says.

He heads back out of the room, followed by Ryan.

"Not a word from you," Kate tells Castle as she falls in step behind them.

Castle feels a painful pull from the cuts on his lips as a wide smile spreads across his face, but he doesn't care. He follows her to the desk where Ryan and Esposito are waiting for them with several documents up on the computer screen.

"What does a murder from 2001 have to do with our case?" Castle asks after reading quickly over the first document.

Ryan looks up at him. "Before we get into that, I was able to confirm not only that Dick Coonan was also in the Special Forces, but he was in Franklin Kipper's unit. They fought in Operation Gothic Serpent together, so depending on how close they were, Coonan may have known that Kipper faked his death."

Esposito nods. "And considering that we're pretty sure Lockwood took over after Coonan died, I'm thinking Coonan gave his employer Kipper's new name and told them that he'd be another good hit man."

"So what's up with the 2001 homicide?" Kate gestures towards the computer.

"Oh yeah," Ryan smiles, "the victim in this case was a man named Jasper Thicke. He was found stabbed to death in an alley, and due to a lack of evidence, the case was marked as random violence and put in the cold case files. What's most interesting about it though, is that according to his autopsy report, his wounds are virtually identical to your mother's."

"How did you find that?" Kate asks.

"After I confirmed the Special Forces connection, I decided to look for other ways to connect our two killers." Ryan pulls up a different window on the screen. "I did a search of the cold case files, looking for unsolved stabbings and sniper shootings."

"There's a lot of unsolved stabbings we need to sift through," Esposito explains, "however, there were no unsolved sniper shooting before Dick Coonan died, but we found two since then."

"So," Castle says thoughtfully, "you're suggesting that Coonan killed more people, and we need to look through the unsolved stabbing cases to find them, and that Lockwood killed the two sniper victims."

"Exactly," Ryan nods enthusiastically.

"Why would two ex-special forces soldiers start killing in what seems a totally random way?" Castle muses out loud.

"If they truly are connected," Kate turns to face him, "then maybe the killings aren't random."

Castle feels a swell of excitement fill him. "If we could find more victims, and then find a connection between all the victims, other than the cause of death-"

"Then we could prove they were killed by Coonan and Lockwood-" Kate adds.

"And depending on how the victims are connected -" Castle continues.

"We might figure out who Coonan and Lockwood were working for-"

"Thus revealing who the Dragon really is!"

Kate's eyes dart to his lips and then back up, the movement so quick that Castle almost misses it. _Holy hell that's hot. Does she even know she did that? _

"Have you two been practicing that?"

Castle looks at Esposito. "Practicing what?"

"Finishing each other's sentences."

Kate rolls her eyes. "Don't dignify that with a response, Castle," her tone sounds annoyed, but the corners of her lip gives away that she isn't. She walks over to the white board and flips it around to the blank side. "Come on, guys," she looks back at them, "we've got a lot of work to do."

* * *

Five hours, several pots of coffee, and an ordered in lunch later, they have finally finished their research. Now that they're done, Castle leans back against the edge of the desk in front of the whiteboard and surveys their handiwork. Fourteen photos hang across the board, and under them is what Castle has dubbed the 'Timeline of Death'. It starts out before the first murder, in 1993, marking when Franklin Kipper 'died'. The next two photos are from a double homicide in 1995, the victims of which were twins, Gilberto and Remo Perrucci. Next was Johanna Beckett, killed in 1999, then Jasper Thicke from 2001. In 2002, a FBI agent named Charlie Benson had been stabbed to death, and in 2005 Sasha Nicoletti was murdered the same way, followed by a man named Barry Glass in 2006. The final stabbing victim, the only one not attributed to random violence, was Jack Coonan, killed in 2009. The timeline then lists the death of Dick Coonan, when Kate had shot him in the precinct. After that it moves to the sniper murders, which both happened a week apart 2010, the first victim was Leonardo Nicoletti and the second Gerald Hopkins. The final two pictures are Scott Taverner and Antonio DeLuca, rounding off the nearly two decades of murder and mayhem.

"Wow," he breathes out.

"Yeah," Kate sighs as she leans on the desk next to him.

Just then, Montgomery walks out of his office and joins the foursome in front of the board. "Is it done?"

"Yes, sir, it is," Esposito answers, "we think we've figured out how they're all connected."

The captain looks over the board for a moment in silence, then points at the pictures of the Perrucci twins. "I remember that case. Those boys were the sons of Angelo Perrucci, who used to be the head of the Perrucci crime family. He's in prison now, though. Their murder trial was controversial. A lot of people thought they convicted the wrong guy," he turns to Kate. "I thought you were looking for unsolved cases?"

"We were, but the wound patterns on the twin's bodies match the other stabbing victims, and the case still fits the 'random gang violence' criteria. The man that was convicted," she pauses and checks one of the files on the desk behind her, "Jonathan Fox, he purportedly killed the twins as part of a gang initiation."

"Also," Castle says, "we realized that both the Perrucci's and Jonathan Fox were mentioned in Johanna Beckett's murder file."

"Yeah," Kate nods, "she was trying to help him get his sentence overturned when she was killed."

"We think that if Fox was really innocent," Ryan speculates, "the real killer may have decided the best way to keep him in prison was to kill his new lawyer."

"Which happened to be my mother," Kate says somberly.

"What about the other victims?" Montgomery presses on. "How are they connected?"

"Well," Castle points at the board, "Jasper Thicke was killed next. He was a small time drug runner who got busted a bunch of times, twice in the last month before he was killed."

"Those last two times he was picked up in a part of town run by the Nicoletti family," Ryan tells Montgomery. "They're the Perrucci's biggest rivals."

"How do you know that?" Montgomery asks.

Ryan shrugs. "Back before I joined the 12th I did some work with the gangs and crime families. In fact, that's why Charlie Benson's name sounded so familiar when we saw it in the cold case files. He was an FBI agent that was leading an investigation into the Nicoletti family. He worked a few cases with my old partner and I."

Montgomery steps over to the picture of Sasha Nicoletti. "The next victim was a Nicoletti. I'm starting to see a pattern here."

Castle grabs her file from the desk and holds it up. "She was a Nicoletti by marriage," he explains. "She was married to Giuseppe Nicoletti, a guy 26 years her senior," his face scrunches up in disgust.

"He is the suspected leader of the Nicoletti family," Ryan says excitedly.

"What's interesting about her case," Castle continues, "is that a man named George Bruton came to the police claiming to be Sasha's lover, and he was adamant that her husband had found out about their affair and had her killed," he looks up from the folder, "but Giuseppe had a rock solid alibi and they could find no evidence of him hiring anyone so the case went cold."

"Does Barry Glass have any connection to the Nicolettis?" Montgomery points towards Glass' picture.

"Yes," Ryan answers him, "he was a tabloid reporter who was notorious for trying to get photos of all the crime families and gangs and such. He used to be an informant for the unit I worked for. I didn't put two and two together until today."

Castle tosses Sasha's file back on the desk. "We think he could have taken some pictures of the Nicoletti's that they didn't want getting out."

Kate points at Jack Coonan's picture. "Dick Coonan killed his own brother, and from what we could ascertain during that investigation, it was because he was selling drugs in a new part of town than he normally did. Jack was a member of the Westies, he mostly did enforcer type stuff but he was known to sell drugs from time to time as well."

Montgomery crosses his arms. "What part of town was he selling drugs in?"

Esposito grins widely. "Same area as Jasper Thicke."

"Seems like the Nicolettis really don't like strangers selling drugs on what they consider their turf," Castle says.

"So, when I killed Dick Coonan," Kate nods towards his picture, "whoever was using him to do their dirty work needed a new trigger man, so to say. We've already figured that Coonan could have mentioned his old war buddy named Kipper or Lockwood or whatever he was going by, and that's why he picked up where Coonan left off."

"Makes sense," Montgomery nods, "but one of the unsolved sniper murders was Leonardo Nicoletti. If the Nicolettis are behind this, why would they have one of their own killed?"

Esposito hands him the file from the shootings. "Probably because Leonardo was turning state's evidence against the family, and Gerald Hopkins was most likely killed because he was the prosecutor on the case."

Castle steps in front of Scott's picture. "We think that someone in the Nicoletti family is who Scott was in bed with."

Montgomery gives Esposito back the folder from the 2010 sniper murders. "Why hasn't anyone put all these murders together before? That's what I want to know."

"Different cops working the cases," Ryan offers, "different departments even, time passing between them, a whole number of things probably had a part in it."

"Well," Kate crosses her arms, "whatever the reasons may be, we've connected them now, and there's only one thing I can think of to do next," she pauses at looks at each of the four men before continuing. "We need to talk to Giuseppe Nicoletti."


	22. Chapter 21

"Kate, you know that's crazy right?" Esposito looks at her with eyebrows raised. "We can't just waltz up and arrest a mob boss!"

"Unless we want a bullet to the brain, that is." Castle interjects. Kate glares at him. _Isn't he supposed to be backing her up?_

"That's why we need an airtight plan." Kate says, half to herself as she bores her eyes into the pictures on the murder board, worrying her thumbnail between her teeth.

"We can hold him on suspicion for 24 hours, Beckett, but this guy, he's as shady as they come. He knows how to cover up his tracks." Ryan says it timidly, his voice with a slight shake to it.

"Yeah, there's a reason he hasn't been caught yet. If we don't find something substantial and we have to let him go…" Esposito trails off when Kate turns around, and Castle drags his finger across his neck in a slicing motion, grimacing.

"I know it's dangerous, but this is what we _do_. This man – Giuseppe Nicoletti – is responsible for the murders of at least _twelve people_, and guys…" She tries to hold in her emotions, suddenly feeling it wash over her, the desperation, the need to chase – the burning need to bring to justice the man who took her mother from her. She swallows, closes her eyes and takes in a quick shuddering breath. When she opens her eyes again, Castle, Ryan, and Esposito are searching her face with concern. "We can _do_ this."

"Kate, we –" Castle starts, an imploring look in his gaze as he's interrupted.

"Detectives!" The shout causes the four of them to turn towards the elevators, where a uniform is quickly approaching the center of the bullpen. "Lockwood's phone down in holding – there's a text that just came through and I think you might want to see." Kate takes the phone from him, thanking the officer before turning to hold the phone between her former partners and – her… current… partner?

XCHG AT MT. VERNON 2300

"Beckett." She hears Castle's pleading voice over her shoulder, but the racing of her heart drowns it out.

"Exchange at 11:00. You think that means the Mt. Vernon Hotel!?" Espo says, grabbing the phone from her, presses a few keys haphazardly. "Sender's number is listed as unavailable."

"This means that – " Ryan interjects, his voice growing more high-pitched as the adrenaline builds between them, "Giuseppe must not know that we have Lockwood. Yet."

"The Mt. Vernon hotel is just one block over from the Queensboro bridge." Kate pipes up, and the boys gape at her dumbly, confused. She rolls her eyes. "A lot of prostitutes linger around there."

The look Castle throws at her is almost comical.

"What are you saying, Kate?"

"What I'm saying is, this could be it. If we can smoke Giuseppe Nicoletti out, and we get him in there –" Kate points toward the interrogation room, "I _know_ we can get _something_ on him. Something that connects him to all of these murders." She steps away from the boys and focuses her attention back to the murder board. Thinking back to her years working homicide, she doesn't think she's ever seen this many murders mapped out on a single case before. She sweeps her fingers over the photographs, reverently tracing, paying homage. Her fingertips pause over the image of her mother, lying in an alley, and it hits her like a knife to the gut. _Oh, god._ It was her _mother. Oh, mom._ She was so young, she had so much life in her. And she'd died in that alley, on a cold night, _alone_ in a pile of garbage. If this was a chance to punish the man who had done that to her, Kate would stop at nothing.

"Beckett, you're not a cop anymore. You can't go in there." Esposito barks behind her, pulling her out of her reverie. She turns to level her gaze at him, her determination making him stumble back slightly.

"I'm going in Espo. I have plenty of experience with this – I worked Vice for _three years_. I know the area." The boys give her a look that's a mixture of horror and worry. "Look. This is our best shot. This could be our _only_ shot. This will work."

* * *

The Captain finally agrees to their plan, if reluctantly. He worries about them getting on the Nicoletti's bad side, makes sure they have all their i's dotted and their t's crossed before giving them clearance. They will have four units backing them up, laying in wait in case something goes awry. Kate will be the bait, the boys will watch her every move. But if she can lure Giuseppe Nicoletti away from his cronies, get him alone with the promise of a sexual tryst, they could snag him.

Kate celebrates their victory with the Captain by making a beeline for the break room coffee pot. The boys are going to stay at the precinct to try to nail down extra resources as fast as possible before the operation. She probably doesn't need to add extra caffeine to her already buzzing system, but she pours herself a cup anyway out of habit, gulps it down black and heads towards the elevator.

"Kate!" Castle catches up to her, steps into the elevator. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going home. I have to get ready –" She stops short when their eyes meet. He's standing shoulder to shoulder with her, sharing her space, and the look in his eyes shatters her heart.

"Kate, please don't do this." She feels his fingers grasp on to hers, gripping, but she shakes him off.

"I _have_ to do this." She looks down at her feet, can't keep her eyes fixed on his anymore. His imploring, beautiful, swollen face is actually making her question her own judgment – making her think twice. He doesn't say anything else, but she hears him sigh heavily. She needs to say something. "Castle?" She looks up, he's looking at the floor now. "Castle, look at me." He does. "Promise me that you'll stay far away from the operation tonight. Don't get in the middle of it. Please. Promise me."

"Kate, what kind of partner would I – " His voice is filled with aching, and it makes her chest feel hollow.

"_No_ – you have to _promise_ me you'll stay away. You can stay back with one of the extra units, but I don't want you anywhere near where I am." He winces, and she does too. Why does it sound like she's talking about _more_ than just an undercover operation? _But, no – that's not what I_ – She feels it pang in her gut, keeps talking through it, tries to communicate better. "It's just, you have to think of your daughter. I can't have it on my conscience if she loses her father."

"Kate, she's not going to lose her father, and it wouldn't be on your conscience. I'd be making my own choice, I can't just let you do this alone."

_God_, she feels like hitting him, frustration and overwhelming concern for the man oozing out of her every pore.

"I won't be alone. I'll have four units backing me up, and Ryan and Espo will be watching from afar. You don't have police experience, not really."

"That doesn't matter, and you know it!"

"Castle, this is my _mother's killer_. Don't you see? I _have_ to do this."

"I can't just stand back and let you get _killed_ by this monster!" Castle's voice is harsh, sharp. "He will not even _think_ about hesitating to kill you, Kate, if he gets the chance. And I can't let that happen – "

"If you can't let that happen, then stay away from the operation! What if you do something stupid, Castle? You could put Ryan and Esposito in danger – you could get _me_ killed – " She interrupts him sharply, poking his chest with her finger, then stops, immediately wishing she could take those words back. She sees the horror streak through his face at the thought. Oh, she's playing dirty, and she knows it.

He recoils, and Kate feels like vomiting. But, she's desperate to keep him safe, keep him away. She has to – she _has to. Right?_ Saving his life is more important than saving his feelings. _Isn't it?_ If the choices are to keep him safe or make him doubt her trust in him, then she's going to choose to keep him out of harm's way. Every time.

She hurt him. She sees it etched on every dip in his skin, the lines around his eyes suddenly looking more pronounced. He nods, crestfallen and shudders in a breath before leaning forward to press the elevator button. Oh. They'd forgotten to press the button. The ride down is short and silent, and as soon as the doors open in the parking deck, she steps out tensely, not bothering to say anything else to him. She knows he'll stay away from the operation now, and that's all that matters. All that matters is that he's safe, no matter how much she's hurt him.

She just needs to get through tonight. She can't worry about them until after.

* * *

It's cold. But hookers can't exactly make a living by covering their bodies, so she shivers through it, her fishnet hose scratching against her oiled legs. She stands on the corner under the Queensboro bridge, the lights from the Mt. Vernon hotel blinking in her peripheral vision. There are a few other girls down the way, but they've steered clear of her, wanting to split up. She remembers that from her Vice days. She's competition.

She's been standing in the dark for an hour, turning away john after john. She'd had to get firm with one guy – got out of his car and tried to force her in. He drove away with broken fingers.

It's three minutes to midnight when a black Rolls Royce ambles down the street and Kate's heart stops. She steps into the light of the streetlamp, silently asking for business, and the car slows.

"Heya toots."

Something's not right.

She leans into the passenger side window and makes out the guy's face.

Kid. Makes out the kid's face. _Shit_.

Giuseppe must've sent him instead – he knew – it was a –

Kate hears a distant rumble of thunder, something behind her, and she turns quickly to see a man with a gun pointed at her head.

"I know who you are." The man's big – _really big_ – with a thick Italian accent, and _oh god_. Kate feels a fresh wave of panic shoot through her, can't help but wonder if she's about to take her last breath. Somehow the thought crosses her mind that she doesn't want to leave it like this – doesn't want to be murdered on the street in the cold, wearing hooker's clothes. Suddenly, Kate sees Ryan run up behind her attacker holding his own gun to the man's head.

"DROP IT, NOW!" Ryan yells, and in that instant, Kate hears a gunshot from her other side, she flinches and jerks her head to see Espo fall to his knees, clutching his shoulder while his shooter – another hulking Italian – takes off full sprint down the alleyway. Kate runs toward her wounded partner, and he motions down the alley.

"Go Beckett! I'm fine, just a graze – go after him!" Kate runs down the alleyway, hears a cacophony of sirens start to blare behind her, and another rumble of thunder, only this time it's close. Very close. Her stiletto heels are pounding painfully into the balls of her feet as she runs after the silhouette of the man ahead. He has a head start, but she knows she's faster than him.

"HEY!" She screams, and he doesn't even turn around, just darts around a corner as another clap of thunder rings out, and lightning strobes through the sky at a rapid pace. The rain has started now, and Kate's drenched in seconds. "STOP! POLICE!" She tries again, but he refuses to slow, he's running and running, but she's gaining on him.

He darts through a small park, tries to lose her among the few trees, but she's relentless, keeps after him even as her pencil thin heels sink into the ground with each step. She stops trying to yell for him, needing her energy to breathe through the rain that's needling her in the face. He climbs over a fence and she follows, scraping her thigh on a piece of sharp metal, but she can't even feel the gash, she's numb to the world, her focus narrow. He continues down the darkest and most vacant streets of Manhattan and she chases him for blocks – though they seem like miles – before the slick tread of her pumps finally lose their traction against the wet pavement and she finds herself sprawling towards the concrete before she can register what's happening. She feels it this time, the sharp sting of her skin being rubbed raw against the abrasive sidewalk. She's up immediately, but the man is out of her sight. Still, Kate runs. She turns down alley after alley, running, chasing, praying, willing his hulking figure to appear. When she finally stops, she feels her stomach turn. She throws up.

He's truly and completely, gone. Exhausted, knees shaking, Kate sinks to sit on the concrete, her back against the grimy brick wall of a building. She's alone, even the cockroaches have retreated in from the rain. Thunder claps above her, and the lightning continues on in a constant rhythm, projecting her shadow onto the ground below her.

Kate knows Manhattan like the back of her hand, and she could probably get up and find her way back home from here. If she were to just keep walking, she could hail a cab or get to the subway station, but the exhaustion and the frigid rain pelting into her skin feels like a punishment that she deserves.

She pulls the tiny microphone out of her hair that had been secured there a few hours before, but the rain has ruined it. Cold, alone in an alley. In the dark. Bleeding. _Just like her mother._

Kate doesn't feel the tears fall, her face is too wet already. She just feels the heaving of her chest as she sobs softly, mourning her mother, mourning how much she had failed her – how much she had failed everyone in her life. _I let her down._

She doesn't register it when she gets up and starts walking down the street. Her body goes into survival mode, and she slowly makes her way down the road, stepping carefully in her slick heels, blood trickling down her knees where she'd scraped them, down her thigh where she'd gashed it, everything mixing with the rainwater.

She sees the headlights before she hears the car coming and when she finally turns around, she sees the cruiser she's been using pulling up beside her and she stops, confused, while the driver's side window rolls down slowly.

"Need a lift?"

Castle. That wonderful, beautiful, glorious man.


	23. Chapter 22

Castle watches the rain soaked Kate as she walks around to the passenger side of the car and climbs in. Blood diluted with water covers her fish net stockings, and the tiny skirt and tank top she's wearing can't be doing anything to keep her warm. He unbuckles his seat beat and shrugs out of his coat, grimacing through the pain it causes in his ribs, and hands it to her. She smiles at him, though her eyes reveal that the expression is forced.

"Thank you," she says softly as she puts it on.

"You're welcome. Do you want me to take you home?"

"Actually, I need to go back to the scene first, check on Ryan and Esposito, see if we got anything out of this debacle."

"But you're hurt."

"I'm fine," she looks down at her legs, "it's just some scrapes. The rain makes it look worse than it is. Espo got shot and I want to make sure he's okay."

"Yeah I saw that," Castle tells her as he refastens his seat belt and starts off down the street.

"You just couldn't stay away, could you?"

"Kate," he huffs out a frustrated breath, "I told you -"

"Castle," she interrupts, "I was joking. I'm glad you came." He glances over at her, then focuses his attention back to the road ahead. "I'm sorry," her voice is low, almost timid.

"For what?"

"What I said in the elevator earlier. I just," she sighs, "I didn't want you to get hurt again, Castle," in his peripheral vision he can see her lower her head. "I...I care about you too much to let you put yourself in danger needlessly."

He reaches out and takes her hand in his. "Why do you think I didn't want you to do this?"

They're pulling up to the now bustling street corner, so Kate simply squeezes his hand as he parks the car under the bridge, gives him a look that he thinks means she has more to say, and then gets out. Castle hopes they actually will finish this conversation later, but for now, it's back to work. He pockets the keys, climbs out of the car, and follows her to an ambulance where Esposito is being treated by a paramedic while Ryan waits by the open back door.

"How is he?" Kate asks Ryan.

"He's alright," he tells her with a brief smile, "it clipped his arm a few inches above his bicep, but it's not deep. A few stitches and he'll be good as new. What about you?" he points to her bloodied legs.

"I'm fine," she waves a hand indifferently, "Let's just say it's been a while since I've ran in heels that high."

"Did you get the son of a bitch who shot me?" Esposito calls out from the stretcher he's seated on.

Kate shakes her head. "Sorry, Espo, he gave me the slip."

"Maybe Mobster Jr. will lead us to him," Ryan gestures over his shoulder with a thumb at the cruiser parked a few feet away.

Castle could see a dejected looking young man in the back seat. "Mobster Jr.?"

"Yeah," Ryan nods, "Frankie Nicoletti. He was the one driving the Rolls Royce that tried to pick up Beckett. He tried to drive away during the fray of the shootout, but he crashed the car into a telephone pole. We're hoping we can get him to talk so we can find out what the hell happened tonight."

"It was a trap," Kate says tersely.

"What makes you say that?" Esposito questions her as he steps down out of the ambulance.

"I think Giuseppe knew we were on to him, or that Lockwood was compromised, or both," she explains, "and so he set this all up to try and take out us, the ones investigating the case. Without his normal trigger man, he had to improvise. It fits his pattern though."

"It does," Castle agrees, "anyone that crosses him or gets anywhere close to him gets taken out."

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

All four investigators look up at the paramedic that had stitched and bandaged Esposito's gunshot.

"Yes?" Kate answers.

"Would you like me to look at your wounds and get you cleaned up?"

"Oh, um, it's just some scrapes."

"This isn't exactly the most sanitary part of town, ma'am," the paramedic smiles, "at least let me clean and dress them for you."

"Go on, Kate," Castle encourages her, "and then I'll take you home."

"I'll get cleaned up," Kate relents, "but then I'm going in to talk to the suspect. Can you get a cab or did you drive?"

"Hold your horses," Ryan interjects. "Montgomery wants us to all go home and get some sleep so we can start fresh in the morning," he lifts a hand to stop Kate when she opens her mouth. "We can hold the kid overnight for attempted prostitution. One of the uniforms is going to take him in for booking. That way he won't be able to go anywhere and we can interrogate him in the morning."

"I can't wait that long," Kate protests, "who knows what Nicoletti could be planning now?"

"Kate," Castle says gingerly, "we could all use some sleep. We've all been pushing ourselves, we've all been through a lot in a short amount of time. Any lead we might get from that guy can keep until the morning."

"Castle -"

"We _will_ get this guy," he interrupts, "but I have the feeling that your mother wouldn't want your search for justice to be detrimental to yourself."

She looks back and forth between Esposito, Ryan, and Castle, and he can see the moment that she gives in. Her face falls, but there is still a tinge of hope deep in her eyes. She nods in agreement, then takes Castle's proffered hand so he can help her step up in the ambulance. He watches in silence as the paramedic expertly cleans and dresses her wounds, barely noticing when Ryan and Esposito walk away to talk to the uniformed officer in charge of taking Frankie in for booking. His coat seems to swallow Kate up, her lean frame looks like it's drowning in the dark fabric. Her sad expression, wet, disheveled hair, and slumped shoulders make her look broken and disheartened. He wants this case to be over, not for justice, but so that she can find peace. She deserves it after all this time, but only one thing will bring it to her. Solving this case. Until it's over, she'll have this dark cloud over her head, this unfinished business in the back of her mind. So he'll stand by her, he'll do whatever he can to help her find the answers and get justice, once and for all. After about ten minutes, the paramedic is done and Kate heads for the back door. Castle offers his hand again to help her down, and he can't help but smile when she doesn't let go once she is standing beside him. The paramedic comes to the door and looks down at them.

"You two are quite a pair," he must notice Castle's confused look, because he goes on to explain his meaning. "Her legs and your face make it look like you both could use a few days of R&R."

Castle can't help but laugh. "I guess detecting can be dangerous work."

"I guess so," he says as he pulls off his blood stained latex gloves.

"Thank you for taking care of me," Kate tells him with a small smile.

"You're welcome. Make sure you change those bandages once a day, and keep them dry. You should only need to keep those wounds covered for about three days or so."

"Okay, I will."

Kate finally drops Castle's hand from hers, and he follows her over to Ryan and Esposito, They all exchange good-nights and see-you-in-the-mornings, then they make their way back to the cruiser that Ryan had given him the keys to before the operation started. Castle is surprised when Kate doesn't ask for the keys and just heads to the passenger side, but he says nothing as they both climb in. She gives him directions to her apartment - it's closer than the precinct so she'll get her car in the morning - and they fall into silence as he starts off down the road.

* * *

Quiet surrounds them for the entire ride - both of them are deeply absorbed in their own thoughts. Castle wants to pick up their earlier discussion where they left off, but he doesn't want to push her. He parks in front of the building and turns to look at Kate. She's still wearing his jacket, and she has it pulled tightly around her shoulders. She's leaning up against the window, looking up, lost in her own world.

"Kate," Castle says gently, not wanting to startle her, "we're here."

She turns to him, blinking. "I know it's late, but, do you want to come up for a cup of coffee or tea or anything?"

"Yeah, I'd like that."

Kate nods and gets out of the car, and Castle once again finds himself following her. They go through the front door and walk over to the elevator. She pushes the button and they wait wordlessly for the doors to open. Once they do, they step in and head upwards. The lack of words is starting to bother Castle, make him feel antsy, but still he bides his time. They make it all the way inside her apartment before she speaks again.

"What would you like?"

"Whatever you're having is fine."

She goes into the kitchen and fills a purple kettle with water, places it on the stove, and then turns the flame underneath it up to high.

"I'm going to go change while the water heats up," Kate tells him, "have a seat wherever you want. I'll be right back."

Before he can reply she is gone, disappearing into what he assumes is her bedroom. Always the curious one, he doesn't sit, but instead wanders around, taking in everything he can. She has a somewhat eclectic taste in decor, but he likes what he sees. And then there's the books. She has so many books. There's probably several hundred of them, most on shelves, but some stacked in other places, almost like the piles are a piece of the decor as well. There is one book, however, that stands out among the other's.

"Is Earl Grey alright with you?"

Castle turns towards Kate, who seems much more relaxed now that she's in sweatpants and an oversized hoodie, and has her wet hair thrown up in a tight bun.

"It's fine, yes," he smiles and nods at one of her bookshelves. "You've got quite a book collection."

"A lot of them were my mom's," she comes to a stop a couple of feet in front of him, "she's the one who instilled in me my love of reading."

"I couldn't help but notice a rather familiar spine over there," he points to where he wants her to look.

She glances over and a light red races across her cheeks. "Okay, you caught me," she laughs lightly, "I haven't just read _A Rose for Everafter_, I own it."

"And?" he lifts his eyebrows.

"And what?"

"Do you like it?"

She hesitates, he doesn't know why, but he waits her out. "Yes, Castle," she tells him after several moments. "I like it. I like it a lot. But enough about your book," she holds up his coat, and continues talking to keep him from stopping her subject change, "I'll take this to the cleaners and then get it back to you. Thanks again for letting me use it."

"You're welcome, but that's not necessary."

"It's the least I can do, Castle, and I insist."

"Well, if you insist, then how cou-"

A sudden, shrill whistle interrupts him and startles them both. Kate makes her way into the kitchen, hanging his coat on a chair back as she passes it. She turns off the burner and the kettle immediately falls silent. Castle is entranced as he watches her lithe body move around, getting mugs and tea bags and pouring the water. Before long she holds out a steaming cup of tea to him, and jerks her head in the direction of her couch. He sits next to her, a few inches away, not nearly as close as he wants to be, and takes a cautious sip of his drink.

"Mmm," he sighs, "this is good. Thank you."

She nods in reply, then bites her bottom lip. Between that and the little crinkle in her forehead, Castle knows she's thinking hard, perhaps debating with herself internally.

"Castle," she begins, "I meant it earlier when I said I'm sorry about the elevator."

"Kate, I -"

"No, please let me finish," she leans forward and sets her untouched tea on the table in front of them, then locks her eyes to his. "I also meant it when I told you that I care about you, Castle," she clasps her hands together and fidgets her fingers. "Look, tonight, before you pulled up in the car, I was sitting in an alley, bleeding and alone. Just like my mom the night she died. It reminded me that life is short and unpredictable. I've kind of lost sight of since I left the precinct. That's why I need to be honest with you about how I feel. I've never had such strong feelings for someone so fast, and it, well, it scares me."

Castle can tell it's not easy for her to be this open, this honest. She's baring herself to him, and it's not something she normally does, certainly not this soon after meeting someone. He sets his cup next to hers and scoots closer, then reaches up and takes her face in his hands, her smooth skin warm against his palms. He strokes his thumbs in slow circles over her cheekbones, and her eyes flutter shut.

"Kate?"

She opens her eyes. "Yeah, Castle?"

"When this case is over, when Nicoletti is behind bars and you have the justice you've been looking for, I want to take you out on a date."

"I'd like that."

"Good," he smiles. "I'm going to kiss you now."

"I'd like that, too."

Castle laughs and feels her smile under his hands. He leans in slowly, sees her eyes close just before his slip shut, then presses his lips to hers. At first they stay there, not moving, then Castle breaks his lips away so he can press them to hers again. This time, as soon as they connect, Kate takes over. She forces her tongue past his eager lips and strokes it over the roof of his mouth, sending a shot of arousal through his entire body. Her arms come up around his neck, and she leans into him. He moves his own hands to her back and pulls her in tightly. She twists in his embrace and starts to rise up on her knees, then hisses painfully. Castle separates from her just enough to talk.

"What's wrong?"

Kate shakes her head and chuckles. "I forgot my knees were scraped up."

"Are you alright?"

"I will be if you quit talking and kiss me some more."

Castle grins widely and leans back in. Kate starts carding her fingers through his hair, and his hands wander up and down her back. The kiss becomes frenzied, lips and tongues dancing together wildly, and they are both soon gasping for air. The heavy breathing catches up with Castle, and he has to stop so his lungs can calm down and stop expanding harshly against his bruised ribs.

"Castle?" Kate pants out.

"Ribs," he says by way of explanation.

"Do we need to stop?"

"Hell no."

Kate gives him a wicked smile, but right before she can touch her lips to his, 'Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad' bursts loudly from his pocket.

"I'll let it go to voicemail," he murmurs into the shared air between them.

"It's kind of weird to kiss you with your daughter's voice yelling for you," Kate says with a quiet laugh.

"Give it a second then," Castle replies, "and it'll be just you and me again."

True to his word, after three more 'rings', the sound stops. This time Kate doesn't go for his lips, instead she kisses him just below his still somewhat swollen left eye. Then she starts placing light kisses next to each cut and bruise on his face.

"I feel kind of like Indiana Jones in _Raiders of the Lost Ark_," Castle hums out a chuckle.

"You mean the scene on the ship with Marion?" Kate asks before kissing next to another cut.

"That's super hot that you knew what I was talking about."

Kate chuckles. "Did I get them all?"

Castle shakes his head. "You missed the cuts on my bottom lip."

"I've already tended to those."

"I think they need more tending, just in cas-"

He's interrupted by a whooshing sound from his phone.

"Was that a laser gun sound?" Kate looks intrigued.

"Yes," Castle nods, "and it's even hotter that you knew that."

"Why is your phone making laser gun sounds?"

"It's Alexis' text tone. Let me see what she said."

"Of course."

Castle lets go of Kate with one hand and fishes in his pocket for his phone. He reads the screen and his smiles disappears.

"What's wrong?" Kate asks worriedly. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, she's just worried about me. She didn't think I'd be out this late and when I didn't answer her call she thought something had happened to me again," he types out a reply and hits the send button, then slides the phone back in his pocket. "Kate," he sighs, "I really, _really_ hate to, but I better go."

"Of course, Castle, I understand. Do you want me to drive you?"

"No, I'll just grab a cab."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," he smiles. "There's no sense in you going all the way to my place and back," he cocks his head to the side and lifts his eyebrows, "unless you want to stay at my place."

"Uh, no," Kate laughs. He loves that sound. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Plus, wasn't it you who said we needed sleep?"

"That was before we started making out on your couch."

This time she laughs so hard that her head falls back. When she's composed herself, she leans forward and kisses him again, a quick, light peck on the lips.

"Come on, Castle. I'll walk you to the door."

They untangle themselves and stand up, and he follows her to the door. Before she can open it, he grabs her wrist and tugs her back to him, then kisses her, his efforts renewed in a fervent manner. He feels her take hold of his other hand as her knees dip down slightly, and he can't stop a smile from spreading across his face before he slips his tongue back inside her mouth. A moan escapes from deep in her throat and it's Castle's turn to feel like he can't support himself. Suddenly Kate's pulling away, their lips separating with an audible pop.

"Hey," he protests, "what gives?"

"I'm not going to be the one responsible for keeping you out any longer when you already told Alexis that you were on the way home."

"Alright, point taken," he holds up his hands in mock surrender. "See you at the precinct in the morning?"

"I'll be there."

Castle steals one more quick kiss, and then opens the door. He pretends not to notice that she stands out in the hall watching him until he gets on the elevator, ducking back inside her apartment only when he turns around to hit the button for the first floor.

* * *

Almost twelve hours later, Castle, Kate, Ryan, and Esposito are all crammed into Montgomery's office. It had been a succesful morning, thanks to Frankie Nicoletti. He had agreed to turn state's evidence and testify against Giuseppe in exchange for immunity. Montgomery had made some calls, cashed in a couple of favors, and once everything was lined up, Frankie had started spilling everything he knew. The most important thing he'd given them was that Giuseppe was currently in Canada, awaiting a flight out to a non-extradition country. He wanted to get away from the city in a big way until some of the heat died down. This fact was what had the foursome gathered to talk to Montgomery.

"Run that by me again?" the captain asks Kate. "The reader's digest version, if you don't mind."

"We contact the FBI to try to get them to put Giuseppe Nicoletti on a no fly list," she explains. "While the FEDs and the Canadian police look for him up there, we work with Frankie to put together a solid case against Giuseppe."

"What if the FBI tries to take the case away from us?" Montgomery crosses his arms. "You know it's quite likely that will happen if we involve them in this."

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be the one to slap the cuffs on Nicoletti," Kate answers, "but I know that's not going to happen, since I'm not a cop anymore. Truth be told though, Sir, as long as someone, anyone, cuffs him and he spends the rest of his life behind bars, I'll be happy."

Montgomery muses over her words for a few moments. "How are you going to bring the Feds in on this in time?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Kate smiles. "I know a guy."


	24. Chapter 23

"What do you mean, you know a guy?" Castle asks, and she feels the corners of her lips tug upward in looks so worried. "It's an old boyfriend, isn't it?" She turns and gives him a glare, but apparently her non-response is exactly what he's looking for. "Oh my god it _is_. A doctor, an FBI agent – how many more of these macho men are there?"

"None of your business, Castle." She tries to make it firm, but he seems to only be further encouraged by her annoyance, stalking her all the way back to Ryan's desk to make the phone call.

"Just give me a ball park estimate. 5? 10? _20_?"

She turns and grasps for the phone receiver, ignoring him, her fingers dialing nimbly. She has her back turned to him now; she has to focus on what needs to be done. He picks up after the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Will."

"Kate? I haven't heard from you in – geez, how long has it been? Too long." Kate huffs into the phone.

"Yeah, I guess we've both been busy." She runs her hand over the back of her neck, presses her fingertips deep into the vertebrae to anchor herself.

"How are you doing?" Her heart aches at the tenderness in his voice, and she's annoyed with herself for letting him get to her.

"I need a favor." She says, and during the pause she can imagine his face on the other end of the line. He's probably shaking his head.

"What do you need? At least I know it can't be a cop thing this time." He laughs sardonically, which prickles at her nerves.

"Actually… I am working with the cops… again. Consulting with my old team. One of my PI cases got tied up in their murder investigation." He laughs.

"What are the odds, huh? Figures you wouldn't be able to keep your nose out of that bullpen." Kate ignores that.

"We're close – _really close_ – to nailing a powerful mob boss and –"

"What?!" He interrupts her, "Which mob boss?" Kate can feel the conversation slipping out of hand at the trace of excitement in his voice. She's frustrated and he's getting worked up. Ugh. No turning back now.

"Giuseppe Nicoletti." She mumbles, closes her eyes as she waits for the moment of impact. It doesn't take long.

"Nicoletti?! You're on the trail of Nicoletti and you didn't inform the feds?"

"Just listen, Will. Last night we captured one of his wingmen, a young kid, and the boys interrogated him this morning. He told us that Giuseppe's on the run. May be trying to fly out of Canada. Do you think you can get him on a no-fly list?"

"I can get him on a no-fly list, but Kate?"

"Yeah?" It's breathier than normal, laced with hesitance.

"I'm coming there. You know I've got to talk to this kid myself. The FBI has been trying to take down Nicoletti for years."

"Will – my team has things under control, you really don't have to –"

"I'm coming." He hangs up on her. She stares at the phone. Will was coming. She was going to be in so much trouble.

Kate turns, startles, her breath hitching. Castle is standing right behind her, his eyes wide and his mouth crinkling into a grin.

"What's going on?" Ryan pops his head around the hulking figure of her fellow PI, with Esposito right behind, both moving from where they had been intently 'studying' the white board during her phone conversation. Uh huh. The two of them aren't fooling anyone.

"My FBI contact is coming to New York." She says, and Esposito huffs, crosses his arms, and the look on his face is the closest he's ever gotten to a pout.

"Guys, we knew this was the only way. We knew he'd probably try and muscle his way into this case." They nod, but Esposito still looks put out.

But Castle looks at her like a schoolboy who's just been told he's not getting the last cookie.

* * *

Will. As he steps out of the elevator, Kate only notices that he looks exactly the same, hasn't aged a single day. The square jawed agent walks into the bullpen, his eyes trained on her – and only her.

"You look good." He says, as he comes directly to her. She feels herself blush, can't help it, the stupid man.

"Thanks." She mumbles out, purposely not returning the sentiment, turning away from him to break the eye contact.

"Guys, this is Will Sorenson."

"Pleasure." He says, extending his hand to shake the boys' in greeting. Castle suddenly has a look of utter disdain on his face, and Kate chuckles. An hour ago he couldn't stop talking her ear off, asking a million questions about the FBI agent – 'What is he like?' 'Did he ever tell you anything about his top secret cases?' 'If you tell me would you have to kill me?'

But now. _Now_, the nine year old on a sugar rush is nowhere to be found. She isn't oblivious to the fact he's been inching closer to her since Will arrived.

"So… you're the FBI ex-boyfriend, huh?" Castle starts, but Kate jumps in before Will can respond.

"Our 24 hour hold time on Frankie is running out – we can't keep him around much longer." Kate says, quickly shifting the conversation to the issue at hand. They really don't have time for shenanigans. "So far he's been completely cooperative, which means we have to release him if we can't get anything else in this interrogation."

"Let's get this show on the road, then. Ryan, fill me in on what you know. Kate, you want to join me on this interrogation?" Will turns to regard her, his face imploring. "You're still the best I've ever known in the box." He wiggles his eyebrows at her slightly, and Kate groans inwardly when she realizes he means that as a double entendre, but nods.

"Let's nail the bastard."

* * *

There's a certain smell that permeates the interrogation rooms at the 12th precinct. It's thick, dragging and stuffy, with traces of strong disinfectant.

Home. It smells like home to her.

She settles in to the cold metal chair and Will bumps her knee with his affectionately, reminding her of his confidence in her. She's grateful for it, but feels the back of her neck growing hot, suddenly hopping Castle can't see it from his position behind the one way glass.

A uniformed officer brings the smug looking kid in, sits him down across from the two. He's unkempt, sweaty, his upper lip showing whispers of non-existent coarse, black, facial hair.

"Whataya? My new mom and dad?" The young mobster laughs at himself uproariously.

"Worse." Will says, tight-lipped. "FBI Special Agent Will Sorenson, and this is –"

"Yeah, yeah. You don't have to introduce her. We met before." He gestures toward Kate. "She's the skank from the street last night."

"Don't," Will bangs his palm against the table, "talk about her like that. Understand?" Ugh. Not good. Already losing his temper. Kate tries to diffuse it. She grabs Will's wrist and slides his hand off the table, a motherly intonation to her voice as she begins speaking. She's not old enough to be this kid's mother, but, close enough.

"Frankie. You've been cooperative for us, and we appreciate that. We need that to continue."

"You gonna let me go if I do?"

"We'll see." Kate says, knowing that's exactly what will happen if he _doesn't_ say anything. He knows that too, she's afraid.

Will looks at her, his face a mixture of gratitude and awe, then he focuses his attention on their person of interest.

"How long have you been working for Giuseppe Nicoletti?"

The kid shrugs. "Long enough. Grew up in it."

"Why did Giuseppe send you to the bridge last night?"

"He did that so his getaway could be clean – listen, I already told those other guys everything this morning. Hell, I told 'em exactly where Giuseppe is headed. Now, you gave me immunity, and I want you to let me go." Will nods, asks a few more questions, tries to get him to admit something else – _anything_ else, but he's not budging. Everything this kid says sounds legitimate, his story is straight as an arrow.

Kate feels dread settle in her gut.

_Something's not right._

* * *

"We couldn't hold him on _anything_?" Castle pouts.

They're in the bullpen now. After the interrogation, they'd had no choice but to release Frankie. Kate had tried every interrogation tactic she knows, yet Frankie had still held firm. It was like a knife to her gut when he grinned at her smugly on his way out of the bullpen, the only link she had to her mother's case, perhaps never to be seen again. Will stands with the team by the murder board. Kate stifles a yawn.

"Attempted prostitution wouldn't stick, cause he never actually propositioned you," Epso gestures to her, and she sighs in frustration. "nor was any actual currency exchanged."

"I just - I _know_ he wasn't telling us everything. Something's not right." Kate says.

"He was too eager to spill his guts to us. If there's one thing mobsters don't stand for, it's a rat." Castle is standing next to her now, grounding her as he finishes her thought.

His ability to get inside of her head is uncanny. The stress of the case is building knots of tension throughout her body, keeping her on edge. Her eyes can't help but be drawn toward the murder board where her mother's slumped, lifeless body stares back at her, urging her in her desperation. Will steps up to study the board closely, his face inches from the images, moving from the picture of Giuseppe that he'd added when he'd sauntered in that afternoon, to the photos of his various victims.

"I still can't believe you managed to connect all of these." He says, clearly directed at Kate.

"I didn't." Kate answers quickly, "Not by myself, anyway." She nods to her team, feels the pleasant ache of affection at the sight of them. Castle meets her gaze with a smile that makes his eyes crinkle at the edges.

"But connecting them doesn't count worth a squat if we can't pin them on our boy Giuseppe," Ryan says to Will. Will nods.

"I guess the next step would be for you to let me comb the files for all of these murders."

"But we already did that –" Ryan starts, but Espo shakes his head and butts in.

"We'll get them for you, bro." He replies, and Ryan reluctantly follows the lead of his partner, scrambling to collect the files.

Kate's eyes drift back to Castle's. He immediately rolls his eyes to his right, gesturing towards the break room, and she nods. He saunters in, and she follows, glancing back to ensure Will and the boys were still occupied. She steps in the room and out of sight.

"What is it Ca –"

Her question is cut short by the slam of his lips on hers, fast, claiming, his tongue intrusive.

"Castle!" She whispers harshly, "What was that?"

"You are amazing." He simply says, before kissing her again, gentle and soft this time. She feels like this may be tied to a certain rugged ex-boyfriend of hers currently surveying the murder board.

"We're in the precinct, Castle – not _here_." She says, and he visibly relaxes, grateful she's not backing down, she isn't saying not ever, just not here.

Her emotions are still mangled after last night, but she's never felt so sure of something before, and it terrifies her. Last night was the most open she had ever been with a man. Who was she kidding? It was more open than she'd ever been with _anyone_. But she didn't regret it. She just felt anticipation, crackling through every nerve ending. He was good for her. She just hoped she wasn't poisonous to him. He grabs her fingers lightly and she settles into his warm touch as he slowly leads her to sit on the break room sofa.

"Castle, as much as it may scare me, I don't regret what I told you last night. It's just," She sighs, needing to make sure he knows. She runs her hand through her hair to buy herself an extra few seconds to think. "I'm not a cop anymore, and I don't want to ruin any rapport I've managed to build over this case."

"Of course, I understand, of course. I just couldn't help myself." He smiles at her, looks at her like it would physically hurt him to look away. "Your mother's case is the most important thing in your life. I will do everything in my power to help you bring her killer to justice."

It stings her to hear him say that, to realize just how much he's invested in her – and her mother's case? It isn't really the _most_ important thing in her life, is it? _Is it?_

She slumps her shoulders, suddenly realizing how tired she is, everything aches, everything's sore. Castle's sore too, has to be. She looks at the fading lines of bruising on his face before finishing her thought.

"I miss being a cop." She breathes out, glad to have it out of her, finally bending under the burden of her pride.

"I know." He says.

"How?"

"I can see it in everything, in your passion, this is what you were born to do, Kate." She nods, surprise painting her features. He really does _get_ it. He amazes her.

"I do. I miss it, and I'm so close to catching my mom's killer – finding out _why_. Knowing _why_ matters. Gah, Castle, it was so devastating watching Coonan die, because he took the answers I wanted so badly to his grave with him. I had to shoot him, and I had to watch the only man with the ability to tell me _why_ bleed out on the floor of the precinct." He wraps his arms around her shoulders, pulls her into his chest and she goes willingly. Just lays on his chest in silence for a few minutes before continuing. "Now, I have another chance to finally know why. Castle?"

He regards her with a hum and she sits up, puts her hand on his shoulder. She wants eye-contact for this.

"It's because of _you_ that I've made it here again, made it this far. I just – thank you." She feels the tears gathering behind her eyelashes – _stupid, Kate. Why are you getting so emotional? You must be _really_ tired._

He's still staring at her and she's got nothing else to say anymore so after a quick glance toward the door, she leans in and kisses him, good and deep, grateful and thorough. He grasps the back of her head and gives as good as he gets and she moans into his mouth right before pulling away.

"You're amazing." He repeats, and she thinks maybe it's not because of Will this time. Maybe she believes him this time. She's in awe of him. "I'm not letting you go, Katherine Beckett." He adds, and the permanence and clarity in his voice makes her shiver.

She closes her eyes and lets the words wash over her.

"Coffee?" She finally says, standing and traipsing toward the machine, pressing the button to make it gurgle to life as she grabs a coffee mug from the shelf.

A commotion in the bullpen nearly makes her drop the mug, she lays it down, leaves it, her task quickly forgotten. Ryan stands at his desk, on the phone, gesturing to her to come closer.

Espo bends over the computer with Will close behind and Kate quickly joins them, leaning closer to see the picture loading on the screen.

"Thanks for your help – uh, merci." Ryan hangs up, out of breath, turning to the team. "They got Giuseppe, at JLIA in Quebec – they said they're sending a picture…" He trails off as the picture loads, the four of them leaning in close.

"Bro." Espo says, disbelief lacing his voice.

Kate darts her eyes up, scoots around the boys to the white board and plucks Giuseppe's picture off. Her heart sinks as she walks back, holds the picture up to confirm what they all know to be true.

"Not an expert here, but I'm pretty sure that isn't Giuseppe Nicoletti." Castle says, pointing to the image of the man from the airport in Quebec.

Will replies, an eerie calmness to his voice.

"Giuseppe was never going to Canada."


	25. Chapter 24

Kate, Ryan, and Esposito all adopt matching crestfallen expressions. Castle can tell that the detectives want to get this guy just as bad as he does, and they want the same things for Kate that he does - answers, justice, and peace. Will, however, doesn't seem shaken in the slightest, he just heads back over to the murder board. Kate lets out a heavy sigh and locks her gaze with Castle's. He sees pain and forlornness swirling in her eyes, and he wants to make it go away - once and for all. He reaches up and briefly touches her cheek, a light caress of his fingers, trying not to go against her 'not here' rule too much, but wanting to let her know he was sorry that the Canada lead had been a bust. She smiles weakly, then goes back towards the break room, presumably to get the coffee that she'd been preparing before the call from Canada. Castle starts to follow her, but pauses to glance at the pictures of all the victims, looking back and forth along the line of faces. Then it hits him - an idea, a crazy one, a gamble - but it's one that might work. _And it might be the only option we have left. _He changes direction and makes his way to Montgomery's office. Once inside, he shuts the door, and the noise causes the captain to look up from the paperwork on his desk.

"Castle," he sets down his pen. "What can I do for you?"

"I have an idea to help nail Nicoletti."

"I thought we were waiting for him to be picked up in Canada?"

"Oh, that's right, we haven't told you yet."

"Told me what, Castle?"

"They took a man into custody, but it wasn't really Giuseppe," Castle frowns. "It looks like Frankie may have played us."

Montgomery gestures to one of the chairs in front of his desk and waits for Castle to sit down. "So, you have an idea?"

"I do, and I'm confident that it will work," he swallows hard. "However, I'm not sure you're going to like it."

* * *

Almost 45 minutes later Castle leaves a still not fully convinced Montgomery in his office, and Kate confronts him immediately.

"What were you doing in there?" she demands.

"Just talking over some suggestions with Montgomery."

"What suggestions?"

"I'd rather not say right now."

"Castle," Kate crosses her arms, furrows her brow. "What are you up to?"

"Kate," he licks his lips, lets out a sigh, "I'm going to need you to trust me on this one. I'll explain everything when I can."

"Do you not remember what happened last time you went off on your own?"

"You can't hold that over me forever, Kate. Montgomery knows where I'm going and what I'm doing, and no," he shakes his head, "he won't tell you either. He promised me."

She points to the file folder he's holding in his left hand. "Why are you hiding whatever this is from me?"

Castle cringes inwardly. She looks hurt, let down, two things he never wants to do to her. And that's exactly why he needs to keep his plan secret from her for now.

"I can guarantee you that I'll be safe. Can you please just trust me?"

He stares at her, studies her, waits her out. He's getting used to that, going at her pace. After a few moments, her shoulders slump as she gives in.

"You won't be in any danger?"

"No."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know for sure, but hopefully not more than a few hours."

"I want to help, Castle."

"You can," he smiles, "by staying here and working the case. I need to do this alone."

"Please be careful."

"I will," he extends his right hand. She gives him a quizzical look, but puts her right hand in his. He runs his thumb in gentle circles on the back of her hand. "Since we aren't supposed to kiss here," he explains, his voice lowered to a lustful hum, "this will have to do. Pretend that my hand is actually on your neck, that my thumb is running along the shell of your ear. Imagine that I then pull you close and kiss you, long and soft and slow."

Though she looks like she tries to fight it at first, a smile explodes across her face. She squeezes his hand and her eyes seem to sparkle. "That is me, kissing you back, sneaking in a little tongue."

"Ooh, I like when you do that," Castle smiles at her, wide and warm. "Best handshake ever, if I do say so myself."

"It was pretty good for me too."

"Just pretty good?"

She winks at him. "Go do your thing, Castle. I'll be waiting here when you get back."

He knows he won't get anymore out of her about the handshake, but he has all he needs already. Kate is more at ease now, lighter on her feet. He pulls his hand away, letting his fingertips brush over hers as he does.

"I'll be back soon."

Kate nods and heads over to join Will at the murder board. Castle watches her for a moment, sees her shift into a stiffer, more serious mode as she scans the pictures, then he heads for the elevator. Once inside, he pushes the button for the first floor. After the doors close and the car starts to descend he finds himself hoping desperately that this is going to work.

* * *

Castle stiffens slightly when an officer leads the handcuffed Lockwood into the visitation room, but he quickly regains his composure. This is the last place on earth he wants to be right now, and he'd have been happy if he'd never seen Lockwood again. But this is for Kate, and Lockwood can't do anything to him in here. Well, probably not. It does bring Castle some consolation when he see's the prisoner's eyes widen in surprise when he sees him, even if it is just for a second. The escorting officer appears bored as he sits Lockwood down on the seat opposite Castle and attaches Lockwood's cuffs to a ring on the table. Castle waits until he leaves before speaking.

"Hey, Kip," he begins. "You look good in orange."

"If you're here looking for an apology, you're wasting your time."

"Actually," Castle replies, "I'm here to offer you a way out of all this."

"Out of what?"

"Prison."

Lockwood chuckles. "And just how are _you_ going to keep me from going to prison?"

"I drop the charges against you."

"They have charged me with kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated battery, resisting arrest, two weapons charges, and a handful of other odds and ends. How exactly can you drop all those charges?"

"I've made arrangements with the DA's office through the police captain I am working for," Castle explains. "If you tell me what I need to know, you can leave jail without even having to go to trial." Lockwood stares him down, unblinking, unwavering, but obviously intrigued. "Look, we know that Giuseppe Nicoletti is your puppet-master, and we know about the people you killed at his instruction. Right now all the evidence we have against you for the murders is circumstantial, but it won't be long before we have something more concrete. And with all those charges you mentioned, we don't even have to hurry, because it's not like you're going anywhere," he pauses and leans forward, resting his arms on the table. "We're also close to bringing Nicoletti down, and the way I see it is that you can help us do so and speed up our process, or you can go down with him."

"Even if I believed you, and even if I wanted to help you," Lockwood smirks, "I'd basically be committing suicide if I did."

"Oh, but here's the good part," Castle smiles, "It is literally only a matter of time before we have at least one Nicoletti, if not more, in custody. Once that happens, I'll be sure to tell our buddy Giuseppe that you were instrumental in helping us solve our case. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to bet that he won't really take the time to find out if I'm lying or not."

Lockwood squints his eyes and anger sweeps across his face. "Are you threatening me?"

Castle leans back in his chair. "Do you feel threatened?" When he gets no answer, he reaches down to retrieve the folder he'd brought with him from Montgomery's office and tosses it on the table. "Go ahead and look through that," he tells Lockwood. "It has the signed statement from the DA about your release upon the condition of giving me what I need. You'll also find some rather compelling evidence and see just how little I really need from you. If you help me connect the dots in there, you'll be a free man before the cuffs have had time to warm up on Giuseppe's wrists."

* * *

Castle walks into the over-embellished bank and looks around to get his bearings. A wall of tellers are waiting on several customers, but they can't help him with what he's here for. He turns to examine the other side of the spacious room and finds his target. A ridiculously large desk sits in front of the manager's office, and he makes his way towards it. A gray-haired woman sits behind it, studying something on her computer monitor through spectacles that hang low on her nose. She notices him as he approaches and smiles up at him.

"Welcome to Manhattan Savings, sir. How may we help you today?"

"Is Mr. Fletcher still here?"

"Why, yes he is, as a matter of fact."

"That's good," Castle nods. "Could you please tell him I'm here to get into my safety deposit box?"

"Certainly, sir," she stands up. "May I have your name and box number, please?"

"The box is number 47," Castle swallows hard, "and my name is Smith. Michael Smith."

She nods and walks into the office, leaving Castle to wait and wonder if following the instructions Lockwood had given him will actually get him the access he needs to the box in question.

* * *

The ride up the elevator is excruciatingly slow, and Castle feels like years have passed when the doors finally open. He strides into the room, excitement in his every step, triumph in his smile. Esposito sees him first.

"Yo, Castle, where you been?"

"Let's get everyone to gather in the conference room," he says, his voice bordering on giddy, "and I'll tell you."

Having heard Esposito, Kate steps out of the break room, followed by Will, who by all appearances looks rather miffed upon seeing him. Castle couldn't care less.

"You're back," she smiles at him and he thinks he sees relief in her eyes. "Did you get what you were looking for?"

"And so much more," Castle nods. "Where's Ryan?"

"Right here."

Castle turns to see him coming down the hall from the bathroom and waves him over. "Come on, I've got to show you guys something."

Just then, Montgomery walks out of his office. "Castle, I hope you have some good news."

"I do, Sir."

"What did you find out?"

Castle smiles again, bigger this time. "Everything."

* * *

"Why are you so quiet?"

Kate glances at Castle, but quickly turns her attention back to the road. She doesn't reply, but her forehead wrinkles, so Castle knows she's choosing her words. After another three blocks go by, she gives him his answer.

"How could you just let him go like that?"

"Who?"

"Lockwood."

"Oh. Sometimes you have to throw the little fish back so you have room to reel in the big fish."

She shoots him a quick look. "A fishing metaphor? Really?"

Castle shrugs. "It sounded good, didn't it?" he laughs.

"I'm being serious, Castle. He's a murderer, and don't get me started on what he did to you, what he threatened to do."

"You're right. Lockwood is an evil bastard, but he had nothing to do directly with your mother's murder, and so if letting him off for what he did to me helps us nab Nicoletti, then so be it."

"Lockwood should pay for his crimes too."

"He will."

"How? He's already been released, and who knows where he'll go. Plus, all the charges were dropped."

"Hmmm. I guess it's a good thing he hadn't been charged with the sniper killings and DeLuca's shooting yet, isn't it?"

Thanks to a red light, Kate is able to look fully over at him. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that all he'd been booked on had to do with the night he took me, and the shootout from the night you guys found me. Due to timing and lack of definitive evidence up to this point, he hadn't been charged with the three murders and one attempted murder."

"But you told us that Montgomery helped you broker a deal with the DA to give him immunity."

"We said nothing about immunity in the statement I gave him, only about dropping any current charges."

The light turns green, so Kate taps the gas to get the car going again. Once she is up to the speed limit, she shakes her head and chuckles. "You tricked him."

Castle smiles. "Yeah we did. And he fell for it, hook, line, and sinker."

"Nice continuation of the fishing theme."

"Thank you."

"Why didn't you tell us that back at the precinct?"

"Just didn't think about it, I guess."

"There's still the matter of finding him. He's changed his identity once before. What if we never find him again?"

"Oh, did I leave that part out too?" Castle lifts his eyebrows. "As soon as his release was completed and he stepped outside the jail, there was a friendly officer of the law waiting to take him into custody under the suspicion of murder and attempted murder."

Kate's lips press together in a tight smile. "Lockwood isn't exactly going to like you for that."

"He already doesn't like me. And now we have solid evidence against him, since he told me how to get into the safety deposit box where he stored his 'insurance policy', as he called it."

"I gotta say, Castle, I'm impressed."

Before he can reply, her phone rings. She grabs it from the cupholder it's sitting in and answers.

"Beckett. Okay." She cuts her eyes to the rear-view mirror. "Sounds good. Talk to you in a few." She ends the call and puts the phone back down.

"Who was that?" Castle asks her.

"Will. We're almost to the rendezvous point. Once we get there we'll come up with a plan for entry and containment to make sure everyone is on the same page. This is our best shot at getting Giuseppe, and we don't want to lose the element of surprise."

"That reminds me. When I got back earlier, you and Will came out of the break room, and he looked pissed off. What was up?"

She glances at him again, and he thinks he sees the faintest hint of red stain her cheeks. "I told him I was unavailable."

"For what?"

"For him."

"For him?" his face contorts in confusion, but only for a moment. "Oh."

He doesn't know what else to say, but when she reaches over and takes his hand a few seconds later, he realizes that nothing more need be said on the matter. Neither of them speaks again until she pulls in a small parking lot by an abandoned looking building where a SWAT team van is already waiting. After she shuts off the car she turns to him.

"Are you ready to go get a bad guy?" she asks excitedly.

"Hell yes," Castle grins enthusiastically.

* * *

"Wait," Castle exclaims, "what do you mean by 'wait here'?"

"Well," Will crosses his arms, "if you need me to explain it to you I can, but I thought the term was fairly self-explanatory."

"Kate and I have done a lot of work on this case, and we damn sure deserve to be part of the big finish."

"I don't care what you've done so far, I'm not letting two civilians run around during a SWAT team bust, especially when they're unarmed."

"She has a gun," Castle points to Kate, "and there's plenty to go around, so give me one and then we won't be unarmed.'

"Listen," Will drops his arms and takes a step closer to Castle. "The time for playing Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy is over. Let the real law enforcement officers handle this now."

"I don't know if you've done a whole lot of reading, but Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boy_s,_" Castle emphsizes the 's', "solved every single one of their cases."

"Castle," Kate puts a hand on his shoulder and waits until he looks at her, "it's fine. There's no point in arguing with him." She turns her attention back to Will. "If we have to wait here, we'll wait here."

"But Kate," Castle interjects, "this is your mother's killer. You should be in there."

"Actually, even if only for that reason, I shouldn't be."

"At least someone has their head on straight," Will scoffs.

"That's enough alpha male crap from you," Kate admonishes him. "We're all on the same team here, and I already told you that we would stay here. Castle just wants to do his part, so quit giving him a hard time and go do your job."

Will opens his mouth to respond, but he's interrupted by the leader of the SWAT team.

"Hey, we've got confirmation of Giuseppe's location inside. We're ready to move."

"Let's do this, then," Will says before he follows him over to the team.

Esposito and Ryan look at Kate, but she waves them off. "Don't worry about it, guys. You two just be safe in there."

"We will," Ryan says.

"You bet," Esposito nods.

"Hey," Castle smiles at them. "When this wraps up, how about the four of us go to my bar for celebratory drinks?"

"Your bar?" Esposito's eyes widen. "Does that mean the drinks are free?"

"For you guys?" Castle chuckles. "Always."

"Rock on," Esposito grins.

All four of them laugh at that, then the partners give each other a last check of their vests and helmets, nod at Castle and Kate, and head off to join the SWAT team. Within a minute the parking lot is empty, save for two private investigators turned police consultants.

"So," Castle clears his throat, "now we go in after them, right?"

"No," Kate shakes her head, "we wait here."

"But that's super boring," he whines.

"Sorry," she shrugs. "You'll have to find a way to entertain yourself until they are done."

Castle smiles. "Wanna get in the backseat of the cruiser and make out?"

"No," she answers without turning to look at him.

"Okay. We can just make out right here then."

"Castle," she lets out an exasperated sigh, but she's not able to fully hide the glee in her tone. "We aren't going to make out."

"Bummer."

He pulls out his phone and opens his Angry Birds app. He'd rather make out with Kate, but at least he has a new level pack that he hasn't started yet.

* * *

"What's that noise?"

"I don't know," Castle replies absentmindedly. "I turned off my sound like you told me too."

"No, it's not that," Kate steps down out of the back of the SWAT van, where'd they'd moved to wait. "It sounds like footsteps."

"Maybe they're coming back."

Kate looks at her watch. "It hasn't even been ten minutes yet. I highly doubt they'd be done yet."

"It's only been ten minutes? I thought it'd been at least half an hour already."

"You really don't do the whole waiting thing all that well, do you?" Kate asks with a laugh.

"Not so much, no," he turns his phone off and pockets it, then steps down to join her outside. "Oh hey, that does sound like footsteps. Actually, it sounds like someone is running."

"Yeah it does," Kate unholsters her pistol.

"I don't suppose you have another gun hidden away, do you?"

"No. Just stay behind me if it turns out not to be a friendly."

They fall silent, straining to listen to the increasingly loud footfalls. Suddenly someone bursts out from around the side of the van, crashing into Kate. She falls down, and so does the runner, but they are both on their feet in seconds.

"Frankie?" she sounds bewildered, but seems to relax upon seeing a familiar face. "What are you doing here? I thought you wanted out. That's why you agreed to the immunity deal, isn't it?"

"You're pretty," he sneers, "but you're pretty dumb too."

Before either she or Castle can respond to that, Frankie grabs ahold of Kate and produces a small, five-shot revolver. He twists her in front of him so he can wrap his arm around her neck, and presses the gun barrel tightly to her temple.

"Hey," Castle holds his hands out, tries to keep his voice from wavering, "let's not do anything rash, Frankie. You have immunity, but it doesn't apply to anything you do after you left the precinct today. You hurt her and you're going to be arrested for it."

"Shut up," Frankie screams. "Shut the hell up!" He looks around frantically, swinging Kate whenever he turns, keeping her between himself and Castle. "Where are tha keys to that cruiser over there?"

"On the ground by the van," Castle tells him.

"What?"

"The keys were in her pocket," Castle explains. "When you knocked her down, they fell out. I can show you where they are if you want."

"Just pick 'em up and give 'em to me. Do it now! And no funny business or I empty this into her brain pan."

"Okay, okay," Castle starts towards the spot Kate had fallen.

He makes eye contact with her as he moves. She looks panicked, yet somehow calm at the same time. He hopes she is onto his plan, because he needs her to be perfectly still for this to work.

"Hurry up!" Frankie demands. "I ain't got all day here."

Castle takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for just a moment. He doesn't know if this is the right thing to do, but Frankie looks desperate and afraid, and that is a bad combination. Not willing to delay any longer, Castle bends down and wraps his fingers around what Kate had really dropped when she fell - her gun. He straightens up slowly and turns back towards them, trying to keep the gun hidden to his side without making it look too obvious. He takes one more deep breath, gets a good grip on the handle of the gun, rests his finger lightly on the trigger, and lets the air out of his lungs slowly. He then raises the gun quickly, hoping he can keep Frankie from having the chance to react.

Castle barely has the time to aim before the shot rings out.


	26. Chapter 25

Kate feels the reverberation of the gunshot a millisecond before the sky lights up behind her. She'd elbowed Frankie sharply under the arm, twisting away to give Castle the clearest shot possible. It happens so quickly. The gunshot, the explosion, and Frankie falls backwards, his arm clutching for her, trying to grasp at her and pull her down as blood floods his mouth. She gasps, feels heat, and finally regains her bearings enough to scramble over his limp and groaning body. She whips her head upward and sees Castle, the gun hanging down by his side, his face painted with shock and gazing behind her and she looks, sees a car awash in flames next to – the building – _shit_.

She's running towards it before she registers the movement, biting her tongue, and she tastes the sharp tang of blood, smells the coppery scent of it in the air. After a few quick paces she's slamming her body against the door to the building, huffing in relief when it gives in to her and falls open immediately. The space inside of the door is suddenly filled with cloudy black smoke, already blurring her vision and stinging her throat. She breathes in a lungful of air and charges in.

"Ryan! Espo!" She yells with the full power of her voice, but it sounds tight and thready to her and she coughs and then drops to the ground, gulping in as much fresh oxygen as she can.

"Will!" She hears distant voices, and starts crawling, only able to see a few feet in ahead.

She thrashes her arms around in front of her and they make contact with something. A shelf? It's hot to the touch and she jerks her hand away, ignoring the pain as she shimmies around it. She can't hear anything anymore over the roar of the fire ahead of her, engulfing the building faster than she can think, thickening the air with smoke. Heat radiates from everywhere at once and what little she can see ripples through her vision, seemingly melting right in front of her.

She crawls blindly, only determination propelling her forward now, sheer will forcing her to move, to do something. The only thought springing to her mind is: _don't let them die_. She lurches her body farther into the smoke, pushes through, but it's no use – she can't see a thing anymore, not a thing, and the smoke is choking her. Her breath leaves her lungs on a desperate sob and her next inhale burns her chest from the inside out. Her vision fades to blackness.

* * *

Her eyes open to whiteness.

The stark drop ceiling above her disorients her at first, inhibiting her ability to recognize her location, until the insistent beeping, the stale smell engulfs her sharply in a wave of familiarity.

She's in a hospital bed.

She blinks a few times and takes inventory of her body. She feels sore, tired, her breath still tastes charred and her lungs burn faintly with each breath. Her hand is pulsing with a sharp, aching sting.

"Kate?" She turns her head to the source of the voice, finds Castle looking at her with a mixture of worry, and awe, and– damn it – really? _Love?_

"What happened?" She chokes out, and he chuckles, sardonically and gratefully, just happy to hear her voice.

"You ran into a burning building and scared the shit out of me."

"The boys – are they – "

Her question is answered before she can verbalize it as the door opens, revealing the men in question – Ryan and Espo looking as unscathed as ever, followed by Will. The hardened FBI agent quickly glances to the place where her uninjured hand is joined with Castle's before meeting her eyes.

"Beckett! We're so glad you're awake." Ryan says, He's smiling broadly – they all are – and she nods in relief. She's glad _they're_ all alive. They just grin at her for several seconds before she speaks, ready to shift the attention back to the issue at hand. _What happened._

"How long was I out?" She coughs, leaning forward.

"Just a few hours." Esposito comes up to her, places his hand on her shoulder to keep her from sitting up any further. "Take it easy Beckett. You passed out from smoke inhalation." She complies, and lays back down to appease him, but gives him an imploring look that, thankfully, he interprets correctly. _What happened?_

"We followed the SWAT guys into the building but the place was clean, we thought it might be a trap." Esposito says.

"Yeah, but then one of the guys spotted suspicious movement in the alley behind the place and we were all scouring the street when the explosion occurred." Ryan finishes.

Castle grips her hand tighter, but she doesn't look at him, just runs her thumb over the top of his, an assurance.

"Your boy over here, he's the real hero." Will speaks up now, steps around to place his hand on Castle's shoulder. "Without him, Frankie Nicoletti might have gotten away."

"Did you – " she starts, but she isn't sure she wants to finish that sentence. Kill him? She remembers a gunshot, remembers blood, remembers the shot triggering an explosion and running straight towards the danger without a thought. _Stupid_. That was why she had been kicked off the force in the first place. Those instant reactions that were usually an asset to a cop, always seeming to get her into a lot of trouble.

"When you turned, I shot Frankie in the gut. Bled a lot. Hurt a lot. But he's still alive. Floor below you." Castle gestures downward with his head. She looks deep into his blue eyes now, tries to figure out what Castle's _not_ telling her. Something else is weighing on him and, God bless him, he has a terrible poker face.

"Once he's recovered," Esposito adds, breaking their moment "We can put him away for the attempted murder of law enforcement. Have him in a nice cozy cell for quite some time. Hopefully we can build enough evidence to charge him with the other murders too."

"Wait," Kate interjects. Something isn't adding up. "What about Giuseppe? How can Frankie be responsible for all the other murders?" Ryan and Espo exchange glances, but Will is the one who interjects to answer her.

"He wasn't – at least not completely. Turns out, Giuseppe Nicoletti was actually killed six years ago." He smirks at her, and it hits her suddenly, how he looks like the young man she almost loved, once.

"And we think Frankie may have been the one to do it. Frankie was his protégé. He's been the brains of the operation for the last six years." Epso finishes. Kate shakes her head in disbelief as she processes what they've just told her. Her mother's murderer… really _was_ dead. He'd been dead for six years.

"Are you sure?" She looks at Will now, needing some kind of confirmation that she feels a little ashamed of, but –

"Absolutely sure." He says, smiling at her. Kate wants to probe, wants to know every detail about the way they figured it out and came to know this information, but she just feigns a smile instead, her mind too exhausted to come up with all the questions she needs answers to. She sinks her head deep into the pillow and presses the palms of her hands to her eye sockets for a minute.

When she pulls them away and opens her eyes, the boys are gone – Will too. Only Castle remains, sitting in the chair next to her bed, his head down and his shoulders sagging. She must've closed her eyes for longer than she thought.

"Castle." She breathes out, tries to get him to look up at her, and he does, he does, but he can't hide the anguish in his face from her. "What's wrong?"

"I was so scared. After you ran into that building. The SWAT guys were there in an instant and they went in after you – but all I could do was watch. You were in there for a while, because they couldn't find you right off – "

"Shhhh," she quiets him. "I'm sorry, Castle. I'm so sorry. I didn't think it through. But that's all it was: a bad decision. You aren't responsible – "

"This is not about being responsible." He interrupts, and his tone is low, his head hangs, his eyes boring into her as he grabs her hand again. The seriousness in his voice startles her, and she thinks – _is he crying?_

"Kate, I thought I was going to lose you." He looks up at her now, reaches up and covers her cheek with his palm. The tears are there, shining in his eyes. "I know we haven't known each other for very long. But after everything we've been through together, I want you to know – I love you, Kate Beckett. I'm _in_ love with you. I… don't know what I would do without you."

Kate feels her heart pound in her chest. She knew this was coming, she felt it too. But the way he's looking at her now, like she's the most precious thing in his world – _god_ – she almost broke his heart. She almost threw this thing away without a second thought. She doesn't know how to express that to him, doesn't know how to make amends, so she just blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.

"I love you, too, Castle. So much."

His mouth is on hers before she can breath out the last syllable, soft, but deep and she wishes she didn't have an IV restricting her movement. He breaks away quickly, licking his lips, and she's breathing heavy already, the sting in her lungs subsiding.

"What does this mean for us?" She asks him, after he sits back down and runs his hand through his disheveled hair.

"It means we're together. It doesn't have to be more than that, doesn't have to have a label. Just… partners." He smirks at her and she feels a grin erupt over her face.

The sparkle starts returning to his eyes. "Now, get some rest. The doc came in earlier and said that you could leave in the morning."

"Wait - he did?"

"He did. He wanted to keep you overnight for observation, but as long as everything looks good we're free to go in the morning."

"_We're?_ Castle, you better not be thinking of staying here with me."

"_Beckett_," he mocks, "You better not be thinking of kicking me out."

She rolls her eyes at him, but doesn't say anything else. His face is smug as he stands and adjusts the chair, lays it back as far as it will go, and steals one of her pillows. She presses the button on the side of the bed until she's completely flat and finally dims the light.

"No snoring, Castle." She says into the darkness, an amused lilt to her tone. She's exhausted, despite being unconscious all day, feels the weight of the past week catching up to her and tugging her down.

"That goes for you too, Kate."

* * *

"Oh my god, Castle, can you not?" She's been trying to fall asleep for what seems like hours, but by the time she is finally able to quell the haunting images in her mind's eye, the incessant creaking of the hospital recliner jolts her awake. It's driving her batty.

"Sorry, but – " _Creeeak_. "This chair… it's like Satan himself created it." _Creeeak_. He tosses and turns a few more times, and she can't stop the laugh from escaping her lips.

"Don't laugh at me." She can't see his face, but he sounds adorable when he's grumpy. She closes her eyes again. The chair creaks. She opens her eyes. The chair creaks.

"Come crawl in with me." She says it before she can overthink it.

"You sure?"

"Yes, Castle, for god's sake –" He's at her bedside in an instant, eager. "Right here, beside me." He climbs in, carefully, trying not to disturb her IV or jostle her burnt and bandaged hand. He's wearing a t-shirt and boxers and he looks so – comfortable.

The instant he's in the bed with her, she wonders why she hadn't thought of this earlier. His radiating warmth and scent envelops her, relaxing her. His face is inches from hers, and he leans in to place a feather light kiss against her lips. She closes her eyes and breathes him in. She's floating into oblivion, drifting…

"Hey, Kate?"

"_What_, Castle?"

"I've been thinking. We should open a joint PI agency…"

"What? Really?" She's only half awake now, can't tell if she'll be able to remember this in the morning.

"I think it could be great. Will gave me the idea, actually."

"_Will_ gave you the idea?"

"We… spoke for a while, when you were unconscious."

"Uh huh, and how did _that_ go?" She pokes him in the ribs, goading him, and he flinches away from her, wincing. Even in the darkness, she doesn't miss the pained expression on his face. _Oh, his bruised ribs. Shit._ But he speaks up before she can apologize.

"I'll have you know that he was very cordial. Said that we were good for each other, that we make a great team."

"Mmmm, we do make a great team." She says, her guilt forgotten as she burrows her face into the crook of his neck. "Very _Nick and Nora Charles_." She counters at him, and she feels goose bumps suddenly prickle up over his bare arms.

"It is _so_ hot that you know that reference."

"Go to sleep, stud." _Wow, I must be really exhausted._

* * *

The next thing she remembers is sharp sunlight piercing through the hospital's blinds.

The noise of an entering nurse pulls her into awareness, she turns to see the woman's embarrassed face and she suddenly realizes that she's been caught in bed with Castle. Oops. That's probably against hospital policy.

"Castle!" She shakes him awake and he rubs his eyes, sits up a little before seeing the nurse and swinging his legs out of the bed.

She sits up as well, fully awake now, watches him stumble to sit on the recliner next to the window. He's sleep ruffled and a little sweaty, the drops of perspiration glistening in the light of the sun's rays, and it takes her breath away.

"Miss Beckett," The nurse says, "Once we get your vitals one more time, you're free to go." She deposits her clipboard on the bedside table and reaches around to gently begin removing Kate's IV.

"You know, you're very lucky to have so many people who care about you." The friendly middle-aged nurse nods her head toward Castle and Kate smiles at her. "I think the entire NYPD was out in the waiting room at one point!" The nurse chuckles, but the words hit Kate hard in the chest, reminding her how much she loves those guys at the 12th, how she knows that she'd have done the same for them. And Castle – how did she get so lucky anyway? She doesn't deserve him.

Castle stands up and hands her some clothes, they're clean, from her apartment – _when had he gotten these?_

"It's not important, Kate." He says, when she asks him. She doesn't push the matter, just changes and brushes her teeth, which makes her feel so much cleaner, unencumbered, light. When she comes out of the bathroom the nurse is handing her the discharge papers and she signs them quickly.

"So, Miss Beckett," Castle says, extending his arm to meets his eyes again, "I'm pretty sure you promised me a date."


	27. Epilogue

It has been a little over a year and a half since their first case had ended. Over eighteen months had gone by since fate, or chance, or whatever it had been had forced them to work together, since jealousy and death had made them search for answers side by side. A year and half since they'd fallen head over heels in love in only the span of a few weeks. Castle looks up from his paperwork and lets his gaze fall on his coworker, his partner, his lover, his best friend. Her desk is across the small room, and it's location by the window means that the late afternoon light always shines through and makes her hair glow. As he stares at her, his mind wanders back to the end of that life changing case.

After they'd left the hospital he'd taken her on a breakfast date. They hadn't discussed the case once. Nor had they talked about it as they spent most of the rest of the day in her bed showing just how much they love they truly had for each other, even with the limitations set by their recent injuries. They'd each learned a lot about the other, both physically and emotionally, and it was there, legs and arms tangled together as they rested and recovered between rounds three and four that they had decided to combine their separate private investigation businesses into one. They'd agreed to continue working together, but to wait until after the Nicoletti case was fully closed before actually finding a place to work out of and moving everything from their two locations to the one.

It was the next day that they joined the real world again, and made their way back to the precinct to help Ryan, Esposito, and Will tie up any loose ends. Everything in Lockwood's packet of information had made even more sense once they'd figured out that Frankie had taken full control of the Nicoletti family after secretly killing off Giuseppe. Within the week, Frankie was well enough to be interrogated. Knowing he was never going to be free again, he agreed to cooperate fully with the investigation in exchange for the FBI taking the death penalty off the table. This time he'd been honest, and between his testimony, Lockwood's information, and other evidence the feds managed to scrape up over the following few months, the case had been closed.

The day that happened, Kate had taken Castle to her mother's grave. He'd watched her as she spoke to the tombstone, telling her mother's final resting place about all that had happened, how justice had finally been served and it was all over. That night Castle had asked Kate to move in with him. He'd admitted that it was soon, yes, but that she was over at his loft most nights, and he was at her apartment when she wasn't. He'd actually been surprised when she said yes right away, with no hesitation, and they spent the next two weeks moving her and putting her place up on the market. Within a month they'd found the perfect little office space, and Big Apple Investigations had officially opened three weeks later. All in all, it had been a busy, crazy, and memorable six months, but in the year since, they'd only grown closer. Not to mention become the most used private investigators in the tri-state area.

"You're staring, Castle," Kate's words bring him back to the present.

"I can't help it," he grins, "you're gorgeous."

"What is it that's got you thinking so hard over there?" she sets her pen down and crosses her arms as she leans back in her chair. "It can't be that paperwork. It only took you two days to close that case."

"No," he chuckles, "it's not that. I was thinking about us, about how we met and how far we've come."

Kate glances around the room and then smiles at him. "Yeah, when you think about it, it's kinda hard to believe it's been exactly a year since we started working from this office."

"I guess time flies when you're having fun," Castle replies with a shrug. "Although, I still maintain that we should have called it Undercover Lovers," he smirks when she rolls her eyes. "Everyone loves a good double entendre," he waggles his eyebrows at her.

"Sorry, Castle, but you'll never convince me to change our company's name to that."

"Never say never, Kate."

She pushes her chair back and stands, then makes her way across the room to him. She leans over, bringing her mouth less than an inch from his ear.

"We will _never_ call this business Undercover Lovers," she whispers. "However, since it is the one year anniversary of our doors opening, you will take me out to dinner and then we can go home and be undercover lovers."

Castle grabs her hands and tugs her into his lap, then presses his lips to hers, lets his tongue invade her warm, welcoming mouth. He keeps it up until she is panting, breathless, then moves to lavish her neck and the exposed part of her perfect collarbone with light kisses.

"Don't you dare give me a hickey," she manages to gasp out before she moves to capture his lips with her own. "At least," she mutters against him, "not there where others can see it. Save that for later."

He laughs without breaking the kiss, and brings one hand up to the back of her head. He slows down the pace, loves her without words until her lips are swollen and her eyes are glazed over with desire. He touches his forehead to hers and speaks into the shared air between them.

"Let's go to The Old Haunt."

"Why there?"

"Because all our family and closest friends are there waiting for us."

She pulls back a few inches. "Did you plan a Big Apple Investigations anniversary party without telling me?"

"Nope," he shakes his head. "I planned an engagement party without telling you."

"For whose engagement?"

"Ours."

"Um, Castle," her faces skews in confusion, "we aren't engaged."

"We will be if you say yes."

"If I say y...Castle...are you proposing?"

He doesn't reply right away, but turns his chair just enough to reach into one of his desk drawers. He pulls out the small ring box that he's had for two months, and then holds it up to Kate. Her mouth drops open as he lifts the lid and pulls a ring out. It is a round brilliant cut two carat diamond, big but not overly so, which he knew she wouldn't want, beautiful and simply elegant, just like her.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett," he licks his lips and swallows hard, "I love you, and have loved you almost as long as I have known you. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much I love you. Will you make me the happiest man that's ever lived and marry me?"

She meets his eyes with hers, and he sees what looks like tears brimming at her lower lids. He is suddenly nervous, and his breathing speeds up. She then reaches up and places a hand on either cheek and pulls him to her. The kiss is so sweet, so tender, that it brings tears to his eyes as well. When she separates from him he knows his hope must be written all over his face.

"So," he clears his throat, "was that a 'yes' kiss or and 'no, so here is a pity kiss' kiss?"

"Of course I'll marry you, Castle," she grins widely. "I love you and nothing would make me happier."

"I love you too, Kate," he pauses and takes her left hand in his so he can slip the ring on her third finger.

They kiss again, and this time they both quickly find themselves breathing heavily with the passionate exertion that they put into it. Kate's arms wind around his neck and he wraps his around her waist. Several minutes pass before they have to break away to catch their breath, and when Castle is able to speak clearly he smiles at her.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes," she nods, then leans back in to whisper in his ear again. "Because the sooner we get to the party, the sooner we can leave."

"I love the way you think," Castle growls lustfully.

"I know you do," Kate replies simply.

Castle laughs and kisses her again, then stands them up. They both set about shutting down the office, and a few minutes later they meet at the door. He puts on his fedora and they both put on their coats. After sharing one more brief yet fiery kiss, they join hands and head out to start the next chapter of their lives.

* * *

**A/N - Thank you so much for reading our story and going on this journey with us. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it. Until next time, Paige**

**Thanks for liking to read what we liked to write. - kate-hi**


End file.
